Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.88.

A number of analysts have commented on AVTR shares. TD Cowen lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cowen downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Avantor Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $13.31 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.46 and a 200 day moving average of $17.29. Avantor has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 10.70%. The company's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,967.40. This trade represents a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in Avantor by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after purchasing an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Avantor by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock worth $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Avantor by 89.8% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 18,127,204 shares of the company's stock worth $293,842,000 after acquiring an additional 8,578,493 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $142,512,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 53.2% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,034,699 shares of the company's stock worth $227,502,000 after purchasing an additional 4,876,524 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.