JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has lowered its price target for Avantor's stock from $17.00 to $14.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating, indicating a potential upside of 22.57% from the previous close.
• TD Cowen and Goldman Sachs also downgraded Avantor’s ratings and set new target prices, with Goldman Sachs reducing its target to $14.00.
• Avantor reported earnings per share of $0.24 for the last quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate, while its revenue was slightly up at $1.68 billion.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.57% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AVTR. TD Cowen downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Cowen downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.65.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of Avantor stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $11.42. 8,123,378 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,501,933. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.96. Avantor has a 52 week low of $10.82 and a 52 week high of $27.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.39.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 10.31%. Avantor's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000. This represents a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 75,000 shares of company stock valued at $928,000. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Avantor by 0.5% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 832,861 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,119 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Avantor in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Avantor by 24.7% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 30,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,056 shares during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. increased its holdings in Avantor by 133.7% in the second quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 502,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 287,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP bought a new stake in Avantor in the second quarter valued at about $1,010,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.