Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Rating Increased to Hold at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Avantor from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Avantor from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Avantor in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.47.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock opened at $10.29 on Thursday. Avantor has a 52-week low of $7.26 and a 52-week high of $15.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.70 and a 200-day moving average of $9.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.71, a PEG ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Avantor will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Simon Dingemans bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.14 per share, with a total value of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Avantor by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth approximately $111,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 24.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,067,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,410,000 after buying an additional 1,382,320 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 21.8% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 418,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,278,000 after buying an additional 74,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 14.3% in the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.