Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,180,000 shares, a decline of 13.4% from the October 31st total of 7,140,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Hologic Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HOLX traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,344,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,986,754. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 3.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.02. Hologic has a fifty-two week low of $64.02 and a fifty-two week high of $87.88.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 9th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.05. Hologic had a net margin of 11.31% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The business had revenue of $945.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $940.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hologic will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HOLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Hologic from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Hologic from $95.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hologic in a research note on Friday, November 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Hologic from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Hologic from $91.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.58.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on HOLX

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Essex D. Mitchell sold 7,500 shares of Hologic stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.85, for a total value of $538,875.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,619.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hologic

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 381,608 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Hologic by 0.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,849,548 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,931,098,000 after buying an additional 87,374 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Hologic by 98,061.1% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 22,086,241 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,788,323,000 after buying an additional 22,063,741 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Hologic by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,542,769 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $934,618,000 after buying an additional 206,023 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Hologic by 80.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,984,757 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $725,070,000 after buying an additional 3,992,822 shares during the period. 92.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hologic (Get Free Report)

Hologic, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies diagnostics products, medical imaging systems, and surgical products for women’s health through early detection and treatment in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Diagnostics, Breast Health, GYN Surgical, and Skeletal Health.

Further Reading

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Original: MarketBeat News Feed: Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest