Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Short Interest Down 13.2% in February

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 28,370,000 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the February 13th total of 32,680,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Avantor Stock Down 2.0 %

Avantor stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,080,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,551,070. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.88. Avantor has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

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.