Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Cut to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $14.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.09% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVTR. Morgan Stanley set a $15.00 target price on Avantor and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Avantor Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $12.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $15.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.64. Avantor has a 52-week low of $12.20 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The company has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of Avantor by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company's stock worth $37,228,000 after buying an additional 493,408 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth $555,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Avantor by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company's stock worth $40,504,000 after purchasing an additional 33,692 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company's stock worth $63,792,000 after buying an additional 74,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 146.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company's stock worth $67,996,000 after buying an additional 1,562,018 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

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.

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