Barclays Raises Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Price Target to $30.00

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $26.50.

Avantor Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE AVTR traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,980,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,903,083. Avantor has a 12 month low of $16.63 and a 12 month high of $26.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $17.31 billion, a PE ratio of 53.18, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.29.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $151,911.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,476,992.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 42,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 3,853 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Avantor by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 77,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 20,606 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Avantor by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,261,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,252,000 after purchasing an additional 35,974 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in Avantor by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 91,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,342,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

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.