Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Avantor Put Options (NYSE:AVTR)

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 56,167 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,877% compared to the typical volume of 1,887 put options.

Avantor Price Performance

NYSE AVTR opened at $11.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $13.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of -84.92, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.98. Avantor has a 1 year low of $10.82 and a 1 year high of $23.70.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 10.91% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.Avantor’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Avantor has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.880-0.920 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AVTR. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price target (down from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price target on shares of Avantor and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,224.52. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Avantor by 1,741.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 73,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $984,000 after acquiring an additional 69,169 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Avantor by 71.4% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 102,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 42,700 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. Stanley Capital Management LLC now owns 998,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,186,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in Avantor by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,805,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,302,000 after acquiring an additional 60,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Avantor by 85.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

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.