Investors Purchase Large Volume of Avantor Put Options (NYSE:AVTR)

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 79,800 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,243% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,940 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVTR. UBS Group cut their target price on Avantor from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avantor from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $740,372.64. This represents a 10.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Avantor by 58.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Avantor by 1,634.9% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,530,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,839,000 after buying an additional 8,038,451 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Avantor by 653.0% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,740,000 after buying an additional 5,354,678 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 557.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,675,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,950,000 after buying an additional 3,963,912 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in Avantor during the second quarter valued at $76,412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE AVTR traded down $0.40 on Friday, reaching $20.75. 9,879,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,464,417. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Avantor has a one year low of $19.11 and a one year high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 45.65, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.03.

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.