Short Interest in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Decreases By 5.8%

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,600,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the March 31st total of 29,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Avantor from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE AVTR opened at $24.42 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.61. Avantor has a fifty-two week low of $16.63 and a fifty-two week high of $26.16.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 3.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $151,911.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 101,143 shares in the company, valued at $2,476,992.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Avantor by 1.7% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 264,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 4,349 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Avantor by 169.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 131,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,777,000 after purchasing an additional 82,843 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor in the third quarter valued at $207,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in Avantor by 9.8% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 159,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Avantor by 52.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 19,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 6,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.