Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Avantor (NYSE:AVTR)

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total transaction of $88,336.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at $740,372.64. This trade represents a 10.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVTR. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2,003.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 1,830.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 69.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Avantor by 89.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.57.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $20.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.03. Avantor has a 52 week low of $19.11 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The company has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.11, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.35.

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.