Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Stake in Hologic, Inc. $HOLX

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) by 47.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 364,233 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 332,855 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Hologic were worth $27,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HOLX. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Hologic by 294.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,022,455 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $718,223,000 after buying an additional 8,227,318 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Hologic by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,340,785 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $543,486,000 after buying an additional 3,505,828 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Hologic by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,090,306 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $201,364,000 after buying an additional 66,453 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Hologic by 5.4% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,917,418 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $196,897,000 after acquiring an additional 149,605 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Hologic by 9.5% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,832,600 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $190,067,000 after acquiring an additional 245,186 shares during the period. 94.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hologic Stock Performance

HOLX opened at $75.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.25 and a 200 day moving average of $73.49. Hologic, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.90 and a fifty-two week high of $75.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a current ratio of 4.04.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.05). Hologic had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hologic, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HOLX shares. Argus downgraded Hologic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore downgraded Hologic from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $79.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hologic in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.42.

About Hologic

Hologic, Inc (NASDAQ: HOLX) is a global medical technology company specializing in women’s health. Headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the company develops and manufactures diagnostic products, imaging systems and surgical solutions designed to detect, diagnose and treat diseases with a primary focus on breast and skeletal health, gynecological conditions and molecular diagnostics. Its product portfolio includes digital mammography systems, 3D mammography solutions, bone densitometry equipment and molecular assays for infectious disease and oncology applications.

Since its founding in 1985, Hologic has grown through both internal innovation and strategic acquisitions.