Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Given New $18.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price target decreased by analysts at Citigroup from $22.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.39% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on AVTR. Barclays dropped their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Avantor Trading Down 2.6 %

AVTR traded down $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.47. 3,216,226 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,750,160. Avantor has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.58. The firm has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 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 value of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Avantor by 44.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211,418 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,251,000 after acquiring an additional 112,644 shares during the last quarter. 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.