Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Price Target to $14.00

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $11.00 price objective on Avantor in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.50 price target on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.84.

Avantor Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE AVTR opened at $9.19 on Friday. Avantor has a 52 week low of $8.90 and a 52 week high of $18.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.78, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.94.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,000. This represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra purchased 350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $3,881,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,528,000. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 17.1% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 117,433,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,580,655,000 after buying an additional 17,170,761 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new stake in Avantor during the third quarter worth approximately $159,669,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Avantor by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,188,000 after buying an additional 11,216,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth $108,167,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Avantor

Here are the key news stories impacting Avantor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director buys 100,000 shares — Long‑time director Gregory Summe purchased 100,000 shares at roughly $9.40, increasing his stake by ~33%, which can be read as management confidence and provides some near‑term support. Insider Purchase
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo keeps an overweight rating (PT lowered to $14) — Analyst lowered the target from $16 to $14 but maintained an overweight stance, implying material upside from current levels and offering some buy-side rationale. Benzinga: Wells Fargo Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 beat on adjusted EPS and revenue, but topline slipped year‑over‑year — Adjusted EPS of $0.22 beat consensus and revenue of $1.66B slightly topped estimates, yet sales declined y/y; mixed set that dampens enthusiasm despite the beat. Q4 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Company roll‑out plan detailed — Management presented a “revival” program (VWR relaunch, supply‑chain and e‑commerce initiatives) and slide deck — important for execution but unlikely to reverse near‑term headwinds immediately. Slide Deck
• Negative Sentiment: FY2026 guidance misses consensus — Management set FY2026 EPS at $0.77–$0.83, below street expectations, which is the primary driver of the selloff as it signals continued margin and revenue pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and margin concerns — Analysts and media highlighted margin compression and declining organic sales; headlines noted the shares plunged after the report. Zacks: Stock Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy put option buying — Unusually large put volume (≈48k contracts) signals elevated bearish sentiment and hedging activity, increasing downside risk and volatility. Options Flow
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP profit swing to a net loss — The move to a 2025 GAAP net loss underscores near‑term execution risk despite adjusted profit metrics; investors will be watching execution on the recovery plan closely. Yahoo: Profit Swing

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.