Insider Buying: Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Director Purchases 25,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares on May 1 at an average price of $8.14, spending $203,500 and now directly owning those 25,000 shares (disclosed in an SEC filing).
• Avantor shares trade around $8 (market cap ~$5.49B) after a quarter that beat EPS estimates ($0.17 vs. $0.16); analysts' consensus rating is Hold with a $11.39 target and roughly 95% of the stock is institutionally owned.

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) Director Simon Dingemans acquired 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.14 per share, with a total value of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Avantor Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $8.05. 5,450,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,958,086. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.26 and a 52 week high of $15.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company's 50-day moving average price is $8.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.45.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter worth about $268,584,000. Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the third quarter worth about $228,528,000. London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the third quarter worth about $159,669,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company's stock worth $200,188,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter worth about $73,322,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on AVTR shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $10.00 target price on Avantor in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Avantor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.39.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc NYSE: AVTR is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor's offerings are organized across two primary segments.

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