Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New $8.73 Million Investment in Boston Scientific Corporation $BSX

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 89,421 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,730,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BSX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,376 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,079 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Boston Scientific by 9.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,046 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,798,000 after buying an additional 24,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Boston Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth $302,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boston Scientific

In related news, Director Ellen M. Zane sold 12,891 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.28, for a total transaction of $1,266,927.48. Following the sale, the director owned 24,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,371,889.52. This trade represents a 34.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Arthur C. Butcher sold 17,313 shares of Boston Scientific stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,758,135.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,580. This represents a 42.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 93,095 shares of company stock valued at $9,305,450 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Boston Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $132.00 price objective on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $132.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Boston Scientific from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.89.

Boston Scientific Stock Performance

BSX opened at $91.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.01. The stock has a market cap of $136.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.67. Boston Scientific Corporation has a 1-year low of $85.98 and a 1-year high of $109.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 14.43%.Boston Scientific’s revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Boston Scientific Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) is a global medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products used in less-invasive medical procedures. Founded in 1979 by John Abele and Peter Nicholas, the company is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and focuses on technologies that enable physicians to treat a wide range of cardiovascular, digestive, urologic, pulmonary and chronic pain conditions without open surgery.

Boston Scientific’s activities span product development, clinical research, regulatory affairs and commercial sales.