Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Given New $22.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AVTR. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.83.

Avantor Stock Down 1.1 %

Avantor stock opened at $15.09 on Thursday. Avantor has a twelve month low of $13.80 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Avantor by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 50,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,980 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 7.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 50,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,314,000 after buying an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Avantor in the third quarter valued at $2,586,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new stake in Avantor during the third quarter valued at $21,365,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avantor by 146.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,018 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is 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.