Lountzis Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)

Lountzis Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 32,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,190,000. IDEXX Laboratories comprises 5.4% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in IDEXX Laboratories by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,271 shares of the company's stock worth $948,279,000 after acquiring an additional 37,734 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in IDEXX Laboratories by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,005,522 shares of the company's stock worth $829,163,000 after acquiring an additional 82,264 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in IDEXX Laboratories by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,160,988 shares of the company's stock worth $479,999,000 after acquiring an additional 74,324 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories by 58.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,126,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $472,865,000 after buying an additional 414,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of IDEXX Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $412,258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on IDEXX Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $625.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on IDEXX Laboratories from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut IDEXX Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on IDEXX Laboratories from $548.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on IDEXX Laboratories from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $558.11.

IDEXX Laboratories Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:IDXX opened at $541.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.97, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.54. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. has a 1 year low of $356.14 and a 1 year high of $549.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $517.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $457.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.16.

IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $998.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $998.25 million. IDEXX Laboratories had a return on equity of 57.35% and a net margin of 22.76%. IDEXX Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. will post 11.93 earnings per share 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.

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