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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,372.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Avantor by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 28,561,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,298,000 after acquiring an additional 624,369 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Avantor by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 22,927,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463,695 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Avantor by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 9,120,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,937 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $180,839,000 after acquiring an additional 8,038,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 7,099,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,544,000 after purchasing an additional 297,534 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR opened at $23.90 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a PE ratio of 61.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.33. Avantor has a 52-week low of $16.63 and a 52-week high of $28.00.

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

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.