Avantor Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AVTR)

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 15,522 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 244% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,510 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AVTR shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Simon Dingemans bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.32 per share, for a total transaction of $83,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,200. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 160,000 shares of company stock worth $1,287,950. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,907,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,617 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Avantor by 1,333.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 246,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 229,293 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Avantor by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 20,500,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,937,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189,083 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in Avantor in the third quarter worth about $159,669,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,053,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,346,000 after buying an additional 119,508 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $9.75. The stock had a trading volume of 6,738,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,794,216. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.18 and a 200-day moving average of $9.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97. Avantor has a 12-month low of $7.26 and a 12-month high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avantor will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.