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

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 6,150 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 131% compared to the typical volume of 2,667 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cowen cut shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Avantor Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $13.40. The stock had a trading volume of 22,017,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,794,817. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. Avantor has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company's 50 day moving average price is $14.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.59.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.00 per share, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro bought 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 35,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Avantor by 288.4% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.