Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

BSX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Boston Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore set a $65.00 target price on shares of Boston Scientific in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Boston Scientific from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.84.

Boston Scientific Stock Performance

NYSE:BSX opened at $44.26 on Friday. Boston Scientific has a 52-week low of $42.20 and a 52-week high of $109.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.21 and its 200 day moving average is $64.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $65.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.58.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 19.17% and a net margin of 17.29%.The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Boston Scientific will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Boston Scientific announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical equipment provider to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Boston Scientific

In other Boston Scientific news, Director Edward J. Ludwig acquired 3,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.68 per share, with a total value of $202,914.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 25,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,437,348.12. This trade represents a 16.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Habiger acquired 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $55.92 per share, for a total transaction of $125,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $776,057.76. The trade was a 19.35% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 9,800 shares of company stock valued at $554,012. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boston Scientific

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,685,997 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,319,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436,550 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,846,059 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,278,422,000 after purchasing an additional 920,495 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Boston Scientific by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,151,575 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,588,953,000 after purchasing an additional 502,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Boston Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $2,199,395,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,960,556 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,189,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

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.