Magnetar Financial LLC Buys New Shares in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,567,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 226.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 62 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IDXX has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of IDEXX Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of IDEXX Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $620.00 to $596.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of IDEXX Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IDEXX Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $585.89.

IDEXX Laboratories Price Performance

IDXX stock traded down $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $469.71. The stock had a trading volume of 588,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,889. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. has a 52 week low of $372.50 and a 52 week high of $583.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $493.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $517.16.

IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.13. IDEXX Laboratories had a net margin of 23.26% and a return on equity of 63.66%. The firm had revenue of $964.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $965.43 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. will post 11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at IDEXX Laboratories

In other IDEXX Laboratories news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.80, for a total value of $108,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,068.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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.