Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) was downgraded by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $14.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $23.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on AVTR. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday. TD Cowen lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Barclays decreased their price target on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $15.00 price target on Avantor and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $13.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $15.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.55. The company has a market cap of $8.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Avantor has a 12 month low of $12.20 and a 12 month high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Avantor’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, 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 transaction of $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,967.40. This represents a 30.07 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new stake in Avantor during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.