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

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 23,737 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 316% compared to the average volume of 5,705 put options.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,372.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1,634.9% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,530,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,839,000 after acquiring an additional 8,038,451 shares during the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management lifted its stake in Avantor by 147,220.3% during the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,720,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,828,000 after purchasing an additional 4,716,940 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth about $93,433,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of Avantor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,412,000. Finally, Avidity Partners Management LP bought a new position in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,442,000. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock opened at $26.06 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.37. Avantor has a 52 week low of $16.63 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.82, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 5.28%. On average, research analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.60.

Avantor Company Profile

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.