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

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 25,142 call options on Avantor, a surge of 1,067% above the typical daily volume of 2,155 calls. This suggests a sharp rise in bullish speculation around the stock.
• Shares fell on the day: Avantor stock was down 3.6% to $10.67 in midday trading, with volume below its average. The company still has a market cap of about $7.29 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Wall Street’s consensus rating is currently “Reduce” with an average price target of $10.62. Recent firm updates were mostly neutral, with TD Cowen reaffirming a hold rating and Citigroup raising its target to $11.00.

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 25,142 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,067% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,155 call options.

Avantor Trading Down 3.6%

Avantor stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $10.67. The stock had a trading volume of 5,932,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,431,110. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of -13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a 12 month low of $7.26 and a 12 month high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The company's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVTR. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on Avantor in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore set a $10.50 price target on Avantor in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Avantor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $10.62.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 278,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 81,200 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Avantor by 425.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,513,000 after purchasing an additional 450,801 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 93.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 22,491 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Avantor by 372.1% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 9,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 7,151 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Avantor by 21.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

About Avantor

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.

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