Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $7.86, but opened at $8.50. Avantor shares last traded at $7.92, with a volume of 2,179,825 shares traded.

The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Avantor from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.50 price target on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $10.00 price objective on Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.54.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,000. This represents a 33.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra acquired 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 475,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,804,750. This represents a 35.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 275,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,399,250 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Avantor by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Avantor by 28.1% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Avantor by 2.5% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 38,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Avantor by 7.7% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 14,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Trading Down 0.4%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.53. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.00. 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 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.