Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Short Interest Up 25.0% in May

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 34,740,000 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the May 15th total of 27,800,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 11,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.58. 26,592,190 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,276,694. The stock's 50-day moving average is $13.40 and its 200-day moving average is $17.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.04. Avantor has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 10.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Avantor by 288.4% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Avantor by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays cut their price target on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.88.

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.