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

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 17,661 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 177% compared to the average daily volume of 6,382 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AVTR shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.50.

Avantor Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE AVTR traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $25.53. 2,980,139 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,903,083. The company's 50-day moving average is $24.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.26. Avantor has a one year low of $16.63 and a one year high of $26.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $17.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.37.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 4.61%. Avantor's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value 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 $2,476,992.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Avantor by 360.4% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 61,196,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,397,112,000 after purchasing an additional 47,904,427 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 76,325,881 shares of the company's stock worth $1,609,713,000 after buying an additional 18,711,696 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth $156,455,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth $106,228,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 21.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is 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.

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