Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 4,323 Shares of Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 35,890 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,323 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Hologic were worth $2,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HOLX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hologic by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,882,301 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,141,919,000 after purchasing an additional 381,608 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Hologic by 1.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,762,174 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,917,607,000 after purchasing an additional 282,787 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Hologic by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,426,634 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $877,794,000 after purchasing an additional 94,561 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Hologic by 227.2% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 6,284,053 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $435,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,363,687 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hologic by 8.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,838,090 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $335,763,000 after purchasing an additional 393,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Hologic Stock Performance

Shares of Hologic stock opened at $75.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.89 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The firm has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.59. Hologic, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.02 and a fifty-two week high of $87.88.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical equipment provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $989.32 million. Hologic had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 18.91%. Hologic’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hologic, Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hologic

In other Hologic news, Director Charles J. Dockendorff sold 1,465 shares of Hologic stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.21, for a total transaction of $111,647.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,802.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hologic news, Director Charles J. Dockendorff sold 1,465 shares of Hologic stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.21, for a total transaction of $111,647.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,802.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott T. Garrett sold 16,441 shares of Hologic stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total transaction of $1,241,295.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,670,130.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,846 shares of company stock valued at $2,473,443 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on HOLX shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hologic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Hologic from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Hologic in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Hologic from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Hologic from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hologic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.00.

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.