Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Price Down 3.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)’s stock price fell 3.7% on Monday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating. The company traded as low as $12.72 and last traded at $12.45. 2,368,168 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 7,104,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.93.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on AVTR. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday. Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro bought 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in Avantor in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 121.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.59. 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 quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.