Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) Cut to “Hold” at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has $90.00 target price on the medical equipment provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Hologic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BNP Paribas raised Hologic to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised Hologic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Hologic from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Hologic in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hologic has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.92.

Hologic Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HOLX opened at $72.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.95. Hologic has a 52-week low of $68.61 and a 52-week high of $84.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.01. Hologic had a net margin of 19.59% and a return on equity of 19.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hologic will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hologic news, COO Essex D. Mitchell sold 24,856 shares of Hologic 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 owns 27,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,237.38. The trade was a 47.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,174,093 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Hologic by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,213,607 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $159,911,000 after purchasing an additional 544,889 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Hologic by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,937,002 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $157,788,000 after purchasing an additional 306,562 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Hologic by 21.3% during the 3rd 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 grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Hologic Company Profile

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.