Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Given New $14.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 47.76% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial cut Avantor from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.97.

Avantor Trading Up 3.7%

NYSE:AVTR opened at $9.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of -12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a 52-week low of $8.90 and a 52-week high of $18.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,000. This represents a 33.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra bought 350,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $3,881,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Avantor by 104.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,302,000 after buying an additional 104,022 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Avantor by 40.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the second quarter worth about $176,000. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 6.5% in the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 463,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,242,000 after buying an additional 28,137 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 29.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 79,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 18,101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.