IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) Shares Purchased by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) by 77.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 496 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in IDEXX Laboratories were worth $208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bamco Inc. NY raised its position in IDEXX Laboratories by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,005,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $829,163,000 after buying an additional 82,264 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in IDEXX Laboratories by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,160,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,999,000 after buying an additional 74,324 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in IDEXX Laboratories by 58.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,126,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,865,000 after buying an additional 414,802 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in IDEXX Laboratories by 59,810.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,856,950,000 after buying an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in IDEXX Laboratories by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 912,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,419,000 after buying an additional 143,369 shares during the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director M Anne Szostak sold 1,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.34, for a total transaction of $645,548.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,801 shares in the company, valued at $922,724.34. This trade represents a 41.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on IDXX. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of IDEXX Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $625.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $548.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of IDEXX Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $580.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IDEXX Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.88.

IDEXX Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IDXX opened at $535.54 on Friday. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. has a 12 month low of $356.14 and a 12 month high of $579.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.50, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $531.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $471.47.

IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.03. IDEXX Laboratories had a return on equity of 57.35% and a net margin of 22.76%. The firm had revenue of $998.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $998.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. will post 11.93 EPS for the current year.

IDEXX Laboratories Profile

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc develops, manufactures, and distributes products primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing markets in Africa, the Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Companion Animal Group; Water Quality Products; and Livestock, Poultry and Dairy.