Insider Buying: Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Director Buys 350,000 Shares of Stock

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Director Sanjeev Mehra purchased 350,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.09 per share, with a total value of $3,881,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.65. 9,086,976 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,687,525. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.89. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.62 and a twelve month high of $23.32. The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -81.90, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Avantor had a positive return on equity of 10.91% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Avantor has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.880-0.920 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $12.00 price target (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 target price (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $12.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Avantor by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 7,227 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 50.1% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 209,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,391,000 after purchasing an additional 69,772 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 85.5% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 5,133 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Avantor by 15.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 52,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Avantor by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,952,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,887,000 after purchasing an additional 983,172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

About Avantor

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.