Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Position in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,225 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Hologic were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Hologic by 64.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,572,545 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $453,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174,093 shares during 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. Swedbank AB increased its stake in 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Hologic by 21.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,358,945 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $110,700,000 after purchasing an additional 238,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Hologic by 47.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 718,231 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $58,507,000 after purchasing an additional 231,578 shares during the last quarter. 94.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on HOLX shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hologic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Hologic in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Hologic from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Hologic in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Hologic in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.77.

Hologic Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:HOLX opened at $63.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.49. Hologic, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.69 and a 1 year high of $84.67.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.01. Hologic had a return on equity of 19.72% and a net margin of 18.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hologic, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.