Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Avantor from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avantor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. UBS Group set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

Avantor Stock Down 3.9%

NYSE:AVTR opened at $13.82 on Thursday. Avantor has a 12-month low of $7.26 and a 12-month high of $15.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.42.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.92% and a negative net margin of 8.81%.The firm’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.830 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Avantor will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In related news, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.32 per share, for a total transaction of $83,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,456,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,156,000 after acquiring an additional 823,572 shares during the period. Brickwood Asset Management LLP lifted its position in Avantor by 6,891.9% in the 4th quarter. Brickwood Asset Management LLP now owns 3,184,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,138,504 shares in the last quarter. Agman Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth $3,915,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Avantor by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 576,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,612,000 after purchasing an additional 131,186 shares during the period. Finally, Sector Gamma AS increased its holdings in Avantor by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 695,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,969,000 after purchasing an additional 218,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Avantor

Here are the key news stories impacting Avantor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue beat expectations. Avantor reported adjusted EPS of $0.21 versus the $0.19 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.692 billion versus expectations of $1.61 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $254.3 million, operating cash flow was $178.2 million and free cash flow was $142.8 million. Avantor Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised full-year 2026 guidance. Avantor now expects adjusted EPS of $0.80-$0.83, above the prior consensus estimate of $0.79, and increased its organic revenue outlook. The company also continues targeting adjusted net leverage below 3x, supporting the deleveraging narrative. Avantor 2026 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: VWR showed signs of recovery. The VWR segment returned to organic growth earlier than expected, while segment execution and strategic initiatives helped support the guidance increase. The earnings beat initially drove a gap higher in AVTR shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts lifted price targets. Wells Fargo raised its target to $16 and maintained an overweight rating, while Stifel increased its target to $15 and Morgan Stanley raised its target to $14, although both retained neutral ratings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Growth remains modest. Second-quarter sales increased just 0.5% year over year, while organic revenue declined 0.4%, indicating that the recovery is still uneven.
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability comparisons weakened. Adjusted EPS declined from $0.24 a year earlier, and Avantor reported a $0.06 GAAP EPS result alongside a negative net margin. Jefferies upgraded the stock only to hold with a $13 target, suggesting limited upside after the recent rally.

About Avantor

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.