Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) Shares Acquired by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 167,144 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,781 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $14,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Boston Scientific by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,861 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,331 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,474 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its stake in Boston Scientific by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 3,737 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Boston Scientific

In other news, EVP Arthur C. Butcher sold 17,314 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.06, for a total transaction of $1,767,066.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,269,304.10. The trade was a 43.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Bradley Sorenson sold 2,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.41, for a total value of $277,417.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,536,536.54. This trade represents a 9.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 265,820 shares of company stock worth $27,406,958 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BSX. Argus set a $130.00 target price on Boston Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Boston Scientific from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Boston Scientific from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Erste Group Bank raised Boston Scientific to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Boston Scientific from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $114.52.

Boston Scientific Stock Up 1.6%

BSX opened at $104.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.42. Boston Scientific Co. has a twelve month low of $71.88 and a twelve month high of $107.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $154.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.68.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 11.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

About Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through two segments, MedSurg and Cardiovascular. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions, such as resolution clips, biliary stent systems, stents and electrocautery enhanced delivery systems, direct visualization systems, digital catheters, and single-use duodenoscopes; devices to treat urological conditions, including ureteral stents, catheters, baskets, guidewires, sheaths, balloons, single-use digital flexible ureteroscopes, holmium laser systems, artificial urinary sphincter, laser system, fiber, and hydrogel systems; and devices to treat neurological movement disorders and manage chronic pain, such as spinal cord stimulator system, proprietary programming software, radiofrequency generator, indirect decompression systems, practice optimization tools, and deep brain stimulation system.