Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Price

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 45.84% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVTR. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.82.

Avantor Stock Down 1.1 %

Avantor stock opened at $15.09 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.15. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Avantor has a 1-year low of $13.80 and a 1-year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In related news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in Avantor by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after purchasing an additional 30,727,673 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211,418 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in Avantor by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,251,000 after purchasing an additional 112,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,136,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,131,000 after acquiring an additional 443,501 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.