Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Stock Price Down 7.6% - What's Next?

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) were down 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $20.23 and last traded at $20.06. Approximately 2,867,867 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 4,732,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.15.

Avantor Stock 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 company has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.44.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 58.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Avantor by 653.0% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,740,000 after buying an additional 5,354,678 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,963,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company's stock worth $457,710,000 after buying an additional 2,719,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at about $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.