Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Share Price Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)’s share price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.62 and traded as high as $15.95. Avantor shares last traded at $15.8970, with a volume of 8,124,861 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AVTR. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Avantor from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group began coverage on Avantor in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Avantor from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.77.

Avantor Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $15.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 0.95.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 62,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 6,545 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 9.1% during the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Avantor in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Avantor by 11.5% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,141,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,182,000 after buying an additional 117,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Avantor by 60.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 906,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,636,000 after buying an additional 341,926 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc is a global provider of products and services used in life sciences, advanced technology and applied materials. Its customers include biopharmaceutical and healthcare companies, laboratories, universities and manufacturers.

The company supplies chemicals, reagents, laboratory consumables and equipment, as well as materials used in biopharmaceutical production. Avantor also provides services such as procurement, inventory management and support for laboratory and production operations.

Avantor traces its history to J.T.