National Pension Service Lowers Stake in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX)

National Pension Service lowered its stake in shares of Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 413,982 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 26,824 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Hologic were worth $29,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Hologic by 23.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 692 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hologic by 38.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 484 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Hologic by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,131 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Hologic by 1.8% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,473 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its position in shares of Hologic by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 8,348 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Hologic Price Performance

NASDAQ:HOLX opened at $63.38 on Friday. Hologic, Inc. has a one year low of $62.69 and a one year high of $84.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.49. The firm has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.94.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.01. Hologic had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 19.72%. Research analysts expect that Hologic, Inc. will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Hologic

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HOLX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Hologic from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Hologic from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Hologic from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Leerink Partners downgraded Hologic from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $80.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Hologic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.77.

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.