Morgan Stanley Cuts Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) Price Target to $82.00

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $84.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the medical equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on HOLX. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Hologic from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Hologic in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Hologic from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Hologic in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Hologic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.92.

Hologic Stock Performance

NASDAQ HOLX opened at $68.75 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.97. Hologic has a twelve month low of $68.61 and a twelve month high of $84.67.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.01. The company had revenue of $987.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $978.25 million. Hologic had a net margin of 19.59% and a return on equity of 19.79%. Hologic’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hologic will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hologic

In other news, COO Essex D. Mitchell sold 24,856 shares of Hologic stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,897,507.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 27,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,237.38. The trade was a 47.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hologic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HOLX. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Hologic by 64.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,572,545 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $453,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,174,093 shares in the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hologic by 60.9% in the second quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,338,970 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $173,669,000 after purchasing an additional 885,524 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Hologic by 1,023.3% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 895,699 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $66,506,000 after purchasing an additional 815,960 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Hologic by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,213,607 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $159,911,000 after purchasing an additional 544,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Hologic during the second quarter worth approximately $39,427,000. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hologic

Hologic, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies diagnostics products, medical imaging systems, and surgical products for women's health through early detection and treatment. The company operates through four segments: Diagnostics, Breast Health, GYN Surgical, and Skeletal Health. It provides Aptima molecular diagnostic assays to detect the infectious microorganisms; Aptima viral load assays for Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, and human cytomegalo virus; Aptima bacterial vaginosis and candida vaginitis assays for the diagnosis of vaginitis; Aptima SARS-CoV-2 and Panther Fusion SARS-CoV-2 assays to detect SARS-CoV-2; ThinPrep System for cytology applications; and Rapid Fetal Fibronectin Test that assists physicians in assessing the risk of pre-term birth.