Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Avantor (NYSE:AVTR)

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 36,657 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 443% compared to the average daily volume of 6,748 put options.

Avantor Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AVTR opened at $24.08 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.66. Avantor has a fifty-two week low of $16.63 and a fifty-two week high of $26.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a PE ratio of 61.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.37.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Avantor had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 3.79%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $151,911.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,476,992.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,457,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,379,837,000 after acquiring an additional 211,189 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in Avantor by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 28,077,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,362,000 after buying an additional 4,948,951 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,180,937 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 8,154,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,886,000 after purchasing an additional 607,500 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at about $156,455,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.