Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Price

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential upside of 37.97% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AVTR. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.15.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $18.12. 3,818,008 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,347,450. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. Avantor has a 52 week low of $17.90 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Analysts predict that Avantor will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avantor by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 40,325 shares of the company's stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 14,341 shares in the last quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 1,105,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,185,000 after acquiring an additional 170,592 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 400,914 shares of the company's stock worth $8,447,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,868,903 shares of the company's stock worth $186,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,091,000. 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.