Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) Stock

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) had its price target increased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $69.00 to $76.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.93% from the company’s previous close.

HOLX has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Hologic in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Hologic from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hologic in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Evercore ISI set a $78.00 target price on Hologic and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Hologic from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.77.

Hologic Price Performance

Shares of HOLX opened at $74.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.55. The firm has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.51. Hologic has a twelve month low of $51.90 and a twelve month high of $80.31.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The medical equipment provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Hologic had a net margin of 13.79% and a return on equity of 19.69%. Hologic’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hologic will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hologic

In other news, CEO Stephen P. Macmillan sold 138,358 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.97, for a total value of $9,265,835.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,234,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,682,769.28. This represents a 10.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christiana Stamoulis sold 7,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.07, for a total transaction of $540,864.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 47,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,458,841.52. The trade was a 13.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hologic

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HOLX. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hologic in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hologic in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Hologic by 193.6% during the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 414 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Hologic during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Hologic by 341.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 468 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. 94.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.