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

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 40,011 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,066% compared to the average daily volume of 3,431 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVTR. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Avantor to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 price target (down from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.60.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Avantor by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 117,746,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,469,481,000 after purchasing an additional 313,404 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 1.8% in the third 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 period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 34,548,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,161,000 after buying an additional 3,356,861 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 20,500,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,937,000 after buying an additional 2,189,083 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Avantor by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,053,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,346,000 after buying an additional 119,508 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $11.78 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.47. Avantor has a one year low of $10.62 and a one year high of $23.32. The stock has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -90.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Avantor has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.880-0.920 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.