First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Reduces Stake in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lowered its stake in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in IDEXX Laboratories were worth $937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in IDXX. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in IDEXX Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in IDEXX Laboratories by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 48 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd purchased a new position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 67 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 108.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 73 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

IDEXX Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IDXX opened at $480.60 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $525.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $512.07. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $372.50 and a fifty-two week high of $583.39. The company has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.57.

IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.20. IDEXX Laboratories had a return on equity of 63.66% and a net margin of 23.26%. The company had revenue of $901.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $891.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. will post 11.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on IDXX shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of IDEXX Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler lowered IDEXX Laboratories from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $525.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $655.00 to $570.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of IDEXX Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $580.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IDEXX Laboratories news, CFO Brian P. Mckeon sold 23,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.01, for a total transaction of $13,296,053.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,939,557.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Brian P. Mckeon sold 23,326 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.01, for a total transaction of $13,296,053.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,718 shares in the company, valued at $16,939,557.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP George Fennell sold 8,198 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $573.87, for a total transaction of $4,704,586.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,851,815.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,524 shares of company stock worth $24,871,960 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.11% of the company’s stock.

About IDEXX Laboratories

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.