Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Given “Underweight” Rating at Barclays

Barclays reissued their underweight rating on shares of Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $8.50 price objective on the stock.

AVTR has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research cut Avantor from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on Avantor in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.80.

Avantor Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of Avantor stock traded down $0.34 on Friday, hitting $8.18. 11,645,687 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,132,550. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.86. Avantor has a one year low of $8.14 and a one year high of $18.02. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.16 per share, with a total value of $458,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $458,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.40 per share, with a total value of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 119.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 60.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Avantor this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $8.50 price target (small upside relative to the current price), signaling limited near-term upside and continued cautious analyst positioning. Barclays Reaffirmation
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent Yahoo Finance piece outlines how analysts are resetting fair-value targets for Avantor, documenting the shift in analyst views but not pointing to an immediate positive catalyst. How The Avantor Story Is Shifting
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option volume: investors bought ~94,708 puts (up ~1,582% vs. typical), indicating significant bearish positioning or hedging activity that can amplify downside volatility.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research issued a wave of cuts to quarterly and full-year EPS estimates, downgraded multiple forward-quarter forecasts and assigned AVTR a “Strong Sell” / Zacks Rank #5 — a material negative read on near-term fundamentals and sentiment. Zacks Adds AVTR to Strong Sell List

Avantor Company Profile

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.