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

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 36,556 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,143% compared to the average volume of 2,941 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered Avantor from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Avantor to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price target (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.97.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 100,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,375,000. This represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra bought 350,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $3,881,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 117,746,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,481,000 after acquiring an additional 313,404 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Avantor by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,988,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $823,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,279 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Avantor by 1.5% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,969,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $680,321,000 after purchasing an additional 608,806 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 10.8% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 34,548,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,356,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor in the third quarter valued at $228,528,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $11.08 on Thursday. Avantor has a 52 week low of $10.62 and a 52 week high of $23.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.30 and its 200-day moving average is $12.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of -85.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.93.

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