Sanford C. Bernstein Upgrades Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) to “Hold”

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) was upgraded by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

AVTR has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Avantor to an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Avantor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.47.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $10.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.71, a PEG ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $8.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.50. Avantor has a 12 month low of $7.26 and a 12 month high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Avantor will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,200. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 119.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Company Profile

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.