Short Interest in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Expands By 25.3%

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 37,710,659 shares, an increase of 25.3% from the January 15th total of 30,097,069 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,997,283 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,997,283 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Avantor Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AVTR traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $9.19. 13,259,785 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,150,238. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a 52-week low of $8.90 and a 52-week high of $18.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.20.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Avantor from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore set a $12.00 price target on Avantor and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $10.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.84.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra bought 350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,500. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 bought at an average cost of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 104.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 104,022 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Avantor by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $176,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 79,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 18,101 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the second quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 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.