Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Gap Up to $21.09

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.09, but opened at $22.00. Avantor shares last traded at $21.30, with a volume of 2,135,308 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AVTR shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Avantor from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.93.

Avantor Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.56 and a 200-day moving average of $23.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Avantor had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 3.79%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Avantor by 84.8% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,165,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,612,000 after purchasing an additional 534,901 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 7,939,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,251,000 after buying an additional 299,333 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 467,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,663,000 after buying an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

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.