Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Gap Down to $25.15

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $25.15, but opened at $23.91. Avantor shares last traded at $23.77, with a volume of 2,616,535 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on AVTR shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Avantor from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.71.

Avantor Trading Down 4.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.08 and a 200 day moving average of $22.59. The firm has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 52.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. Avantor had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Avantor’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $151,911.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares in the company, valued at $2,476,992.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 11.5% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 12,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 2.3% in the first quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 701,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,942,000 after purchasing an additional 15,470 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 2.5% in the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 170,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Paradiem LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.1% in the first quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 129,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 48.8% in the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 53,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 17,458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.