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

Key Points

• Avantor, Inc. has a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 15 research firms, with eight analysts rating it hold and seven giving a buy rating.
• Recent price targets for Avantor have varied significantly, with Robert W. Baird lowering their target to $15.00 and Barclays increasing it to $15.00 as well.
• Insider trading activity included the sale of 3,476 shares by CAO Steven W. Eck, reducing his stake by 5.94%.

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.8077.

A number of brokerages have commented on AVTR. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Avantor from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price target on shares of Avantor and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $627,224.52. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 121.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Avantor by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 79,797 shares of the company's stock worth $1,293,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in Avantor during the 1st quarter worth approximately $751,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter worth $320,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 13.5% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 124,101 shares of the company's stock worth $2,012,000 after purchasing an additional 14,761 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Trading Up 2.8%

AVTR opened at $15.61 on Wednesday. Avantor has a 1-year low of $10.82 and a 1-year high of $24.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.34.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. Avantor's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avantor Company Profile

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.

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