Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Hits New 52-Week Low - Time to Sell?

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Saturday . The company traded as low as $19.08 and last traded at $19.15, with a volume of 14256681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AVTR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.15.

Avantor Price Performance

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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.44. The company has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Avantor by 58.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company's stock worth $578,666,000 after buying an additional 8,206,695 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 653.0% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company's stock worth $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 557.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,675,283 shares of the company's stock worth $120,950,000 after purchasing an additional 3,963,912 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $457,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,091,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.