Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Price Target Raised to $18.00

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price target increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $15.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

AVTR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore set a $17.00 target price on Avantor in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.77.

Avantor Stock Down 3.8%

NYSE:AVTR opened at $16.05 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.49 and a 200-day moving average of $11.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a 52 week low of $7.26 and a 52 week high of $17.45.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 5.08%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Avantor will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 2nd quarter worth $695,784,000. Engine Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Avantor by 65.8% during the first quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 19,780,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,082,000 after buying an additional 7,853,018 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in Avantor during the second quarter valued at about $195,386,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Avantor by 15.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,894,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,288,053 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Avantor during the second quarter worth about $108,795,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc is a global provider of mission-critical products and services used in the life sciences, healthcare, education, and advanced technology industries. The company supplies chemicals, reagents, laboratory consumables, equipment, and other materials used in research, development, manufacturing, and quality-control activities.

Avantor also provides specialized solutions for biopharmaceutical production, including materials and services that support drug development, biologics manufacturing, and other bioprocessing applications.