Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $13.27, but opened at $13.96. Avantor shares last traded at $13.26, with a volume of 1,005,532 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AVTR. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.38.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,224.52. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Avantor by 288.4% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Avantor by 119.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Avantor during the second quarter worth $32,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.