Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Price Target to $14.00

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 47.76% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI set a $10.00 price target on Avantor in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.50 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.97.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $9.48 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.26. 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 twelve month low of $8.90 and a twelve month high of $18.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra acquired 350,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $3,881,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,000. This trade represents a 33.33% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Sector Gamma AS lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 28.0% in the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 477,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,954,000 after purchasing an additional 104,466 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the third quarter worth approximately $228,528,000. Voss Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the second quarter worth approximately $6,057,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new position in Avantor during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,248,000. Finally, Tredje AP fonden increased its stake in Avantor by 110.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 110,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 58,304 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.