Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys 10,551 Shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 252,463 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,551 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $14,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BSX. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 6.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 125,920,357 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,648,595,000 after purchasing an additional 8,045,263 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,768,348 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,534,969,000 after buying an additional 1,525,432 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Boston Scientific by 5.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 42,076,529 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,221,641,000 after buying an additional 2,336,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,329,129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,263,857,000 after buying an additional 473,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Boston Scientific by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 23,393,853 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,082,436,000 after buying an additional 1,659,431 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Boston Scientific Stock Up 1.3 %

BSX traded up $0.85 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,547,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,331,187. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.78. Boston Scientific Co. has a one year low of $48.35 and a one year high of $69.21.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical equipment provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 15.99% and a net margin of 11.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total transaction of $455,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,374 shares in the company, valued at $2,690,551.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Edward J. Ludwig sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total transaction of $455,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,374 shares in the company, valued at $2,690,551.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 6,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.89, for a total value of $467,092.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,779,820.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,979 shares of company stock worth $3,418,529 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Boston Scientific from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho raised Boston Scientific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Boston Scientific from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Boston Scientific from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Boston Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.50.

Boston Scientific Company Profile

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.