Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Price

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 61.86% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $15.00 price target on Avantor and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.32.

Avantor Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $12.36. 8,901,028 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,128,646. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. Avantor has a 12 month low of $12.20 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The business's 50-day moving average price is $16.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.72.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Avantor during the third quarter worth $2,586,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in Avantor in the third quarter worth $21,365,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 146.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company's stock worth $67,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,018 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $555,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in Avantor by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 29,400 shares of the company's stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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.