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

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 27,108 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 368% compared to the average volume of 5,798 put options.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.89. The company had a trading volume of 638,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,397,554. The company has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.33. Avantor has a 12-month low of $16.63 and a 12-month high of $28.00. 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 50-day moving average price of $25.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,372.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew 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 purchasing an additional 8,038,451 shares during the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management grew its stake in Avantor by 147,220.3% in the 1st quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,720,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,828,000 after acquiring an additional 4,716,940 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in Avantor in the 2nd quarter worth about $76,412,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Avantor by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 22,927,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Avantor in the 1st quarter worth about $35,154,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

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.