Traders Buy Large Volume of Avantor Put Options (NYSE:AVTR)

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 19,536 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 169% compared to the typical volume of 7,269 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVTR. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Avantor by 125.3% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 565.5% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 203,100.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $21.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.77. Avantor has a twelve month low of $16.63 and a twelve month high of $26.16. The firm has a market cap of $14.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.35.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. Avantor had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.