Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX)

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 2,600 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 581% compared to the average volume of 382 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IDXX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of IDEXX Laboratories from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective (down from $520.00) on shares of IDEXX Laboratories in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of IDEXX Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on IDEXX Laboratories from $630.00 to $575.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on IDEXX Laboratories from $570.00 to $481.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDEXX Laboratories

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,476,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,576,476,000 after buying an additional 98,387 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in IDEXX Laboratories by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 751,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 562,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,179,000 after acquiring an additional 177,226 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 52,746.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 528,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,669,890,000 after purchasing an additional 527,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 13.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 512,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,855,000 after purchasing an additional 59,519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

IDEXX Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of IDEXX Laboratories stock opened at $420.91 on Friday. IDEXX Laboratories has a 12 month low of $404.74 and a 12 month high of $583.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a PE ratio of 40.59, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $469.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $483.39.

IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.11. IDEXX Laboratories had a return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $975.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. IDEXX Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that IDEXX Laboratories will post 10.43 EPS for the current year.

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.