Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Price Target Lowered to $25.00 at Morgan Stanley

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 32.45% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVTR. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.15.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded down $0.29 during trading on Monday, hitting $18.88. 4,748,677 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,169,108. The company has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Avantor has a 52-week low of $18.49 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.47.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avantor will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

About Avantor

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.