Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Given Outperform Rating at Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their outperform rating on shares of Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $24.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $26.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on AVTR. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.15.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $18.13. 3,754,691 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,347,450. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. Avantor has a 1-year low of $17.90 and a 1-year high of $28.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.57 and a 200 day moving average of $23.35.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 4.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

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