Blue Trust Inc. Increases Position in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,428 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Hologic were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HOLX. FMR LLC lifted 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 valued at $453,940,000 after buying an additional 2,174,093 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of 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 period. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Hologic by 18.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,937,002 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $157,788,000 after purchasing an additional 306,562 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Hologic by 21.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,358,945 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $110,700,000 after purchasing an additional 238,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Hologic by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 718,231 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $58,507,000 after purchasing an additional 231,578 shares during the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HOLX. StockNews.com upgraded Hologic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. BNP Paribas raised Hologic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Hologic from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Hologic from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Hologic in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.92.

Hologic Trading Up 1.1 %

HOLX opened at $72.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.97. Hologic, Inc. has a one year low of $68.61 and a one year high of $84.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.11.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.01. The business had revenue of $987.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $978.25 million. Hologic had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 19.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hologic, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Essex D. Mitchell sold 24,856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total value of $1,897,507.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 27,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,237.38. This represents a 47.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.