Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Avantor in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on Avantor from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price objective on Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.82.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $9.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.76. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of -11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a fifty-two week low of $7.26 and a fifty-two week high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avantor will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avantor news, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.32 per share, for a total transaction of $83,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 160,000 shares of company stock worth $1,287,950. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth approximately $111,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Avantor by 24.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,067,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382,320 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Avantor by 21.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 418,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 74,728 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 14.3% during the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 357.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 531,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,168,000 after acquiring an additional 415,342 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.