Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX)

Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 3,509 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 207% compared to the typical volume of 1,144 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on HOLX shares. Evercore cut shares of Hologic from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hologic in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Hologic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.42.

Hologic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HOLX traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $76.02. 22,469,730 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,022,236. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.71. The company has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.70. Hologic has a 12-month low of $51.90 and a 12-month high of $76.07.

Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Hologic had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hologic will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hologic

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hologic in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hologic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Hologic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Hologic by 341.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 468 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Hologic by 168.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 494 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

About Hologic

Hologic, Inc (NASDAQ: HOLX) is a global medical technology company specializing in women’s health. Headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the company develops and manufactures diagnostic products, imaging systems and surgical solutions designed to detect, diagnose and treat diseases with a primary focus on breast and skeletal health, gynecological conditions and molecular diagnostics. Its product portfolio includes digital mammography systems, 3D mammography solutions, bone densitometry equipment and molecular assays for infectious disease and oncology applications.

Since its founding in 1985, Hologic has grown through both internal innovation and strategic acquisitions.