Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to Strong Sell Rating

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 price objective on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.57.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock opened at $9.10 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of -11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 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. Avantor has a 12-month low of $7.26 and a 12-month high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Simon Dingemans bought 25,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.32 per share, for a total transaction of $83,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,200. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 160,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,287,950. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Avantor by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,907,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,617 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Avantor by 1,333.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 246,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 229,293 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its position in Avantor by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 20,500,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,937,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189,083 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new position in Avantor during the 3rd quarter valued at about $159,669,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Avantor by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,053,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,346,000 after purchasing an additional 119,508 shares during the period. 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.