Hologic Jumps On Goldman Sachs Upgrade; Icahn And Other Fund Managers Are Also Bullish

Goldman Sachs added Hologic, Inc. HOLX to its Conviction Buy list on Thursday, raising its price target from $30.00 to $33.00. The stock reacted positively to the news, as you might figure, and is already up about 1 percent in Thursday trading.

Jefferies also seems to like this $7.4 billion market cap medical devices company; in early-November, the research firm reiterated its Buy rating for the stock, and elevated its price target from $30.00 to $31.00.

Hedge Funds

On top of the aforementioned research firms, several institutional investors seem quite bullish on Hologic. On November 2013, famed investor Carl Icahn reported a 13 percent stake in the company, stating that the stock was undervalued and, his intentions to start talks with the company’s executives to enhance shareholder value. Facing the option of a hostile takeover, the company adopted a "poison pill", or shareholder rights plan, to hedge other shareholder from Icahn’s activistm.

Icahn’s position, which comprises more than 34.1 million shares, has remained unchanged since it was first started. Since the purchase, the stock has returned approximately 25 percent, but funds still seem to see some upside potential left.

Over the third quarter of 2014, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, boosted its exposure to Hologic by 66 percent, to 1.5 million shares, while Israel Englander’s Millennium Management added 7 percent to its holdings, taking them to 672,410 shares.

Also betting on the healthcare company is George Soros. His fund, Soros Fund Management, last disclosed ownership of more than $164 million in bonds, after upping its wage by 8 percent over the third quarter.