Avantor Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AVTR)

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 36,657 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 443% compared to the typical volume of 6,748 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AVTR. Raymond James boosted their price target on Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.71.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $24.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,537,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,847,505. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Avantor has a 12 month low of $16.63 and a 12 month high of $26.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.37.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $151,911.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares in the company, valued at $2,476,992.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% 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 company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Avantor by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 565.5% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Avantor in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 203,100.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

About Avantor

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.