AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Reduces Stock Holdings in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its holdings in shares of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 33,866 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,036 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in IDEXX Laboratories were worth $14,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IDXX. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 2.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 20,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,988,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in shares of IDEXX Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $933,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in IDEXX Laboratories by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in IDEXX Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,931,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at IDEXX Laboratories

In other IDEXX Laboratories news, Director Sophie V. Vandebroek sold 344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.44, for a total value of $144,631.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,498.20. This represents a 27.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.11% of the company’s stock.

IDEXX Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of IDXX stock opened at $435.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $398.50 and a fifty-two week high of $583.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $423.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $456.35. The stock has a market cap of $35.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.36.

IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $975.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.32 million. IDEXX Laboratories had a return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 22.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on IDXX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on IDEXX Laboratories in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on IDEXX Laboratories from $570.00 to $481.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on IDEXX Laboratories from $630.00 to $575.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of IDEXX Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IDEXX Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $523.86.

About IDEXX Laboratories

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc develops, manufactures, and distributes products primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing markets in Africa, the Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Companion Animal Group; Water Quality Products; and Livestock, Poultry and Dairy.