Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Director Gregory Summe Purchases 100,000 Shares of Stock

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Director Gregory Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,000. This represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Avantor Stock Down 5.2%

AVTR stock opened at $9.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of -11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.90 and a 52 week high of $18.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.42 and a 200 day moving average of $12.26.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Avantor’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday. Evercore set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Avantor and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.50 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.09.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 119.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Avantor by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Avantor during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Avantor

Here are the key news stories impacting Avantor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director purchase — Avantor director Gregory L. Summe bought 100,000 shares at ~$9.40, increasing his stake by 33%; insider buying can signal management confidence and provide some investor support. Insider Purchase
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported Q4 results that beat consensus on adjusted EPS ($0.22 vs $0.21) and slightly beat revenue estimates ($1.66B vs $1.64B), and generated positive operating/free cash flow — but sales were down year-over-year. PR Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Company provided detailed commentary and a slide deck on its “revival program” (VWR relaunch, supply-chain and e‑commerce initiatives) — important for longer-term execution but unlikely to reverse near-term pressure immediately. Slide Deck
• Negative Sentiment: Lower FY2026 EPS guidance (0.77–0.83) vs consensus (~0.90) — the guidance miss is the primary catalyst for the drop, signaling continued margin and revenue pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and analyst commentary flagged margin compression and slipping organic sales as risks; one coverage note highlighted the shares plunging after the report. Zacks: Stock Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put buying (≈48k puts) shows elevated bearish/options hedging interest — increases downside pressure and volatility.
• Negative Sentiment: 2025 profit swing to a GAAP net loss underscores near-term execution/earnings risk despite adjusted profit metrics; analysts and investors will watch management’s recovery plan closely. Yahoo: Profit Swing

About Avantor

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.