Avantor Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AVTR)

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 27,108 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 368% compared to the average volume of 5,798 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVTR. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock opened at $23.90 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.31. The company has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.33. Avantor has a 1 year low of $16.63 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Avantor had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total transaction of $88,336.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,372.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 42,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 3,853 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Avantor by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 9,120,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,937 shares during the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its position in shares of Avantor by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 480,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,277,000 after purchasing an additional 13,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC now owns 32,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.