Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Position in Boston Scientific Corporation $BSX

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) by 36.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 789,092 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 210,489 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $49,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BSX. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Boston Scientific by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,152,005 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $197,788,000 after purchasing an additional 769,300 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 325,476 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $20,424,000 after purchasing an additional 4,795 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 155,146 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 43,507 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 25.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,891,668 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $871,702,000 after buying an additional 2,856,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 15.5% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,303,011 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $144,515,000 after buying an additional 308,930 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $100.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (down from $97.00) on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Boston Scientific in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Boston Scientific from $87.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Boston Scientific from $87.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David C. Habiger purchased 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $55.92 per share, for a total transaction of $125,820.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,878 shares in the company, valued at $776,057.76. This trade represents a 19.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Edward J. Ludwig bought 3,580 shares of Boston Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $56.68 per share, for a total transaction of $202,914.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,437,348.12. The trade was a 16.44% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 9,800 shares of company stock valued at $554,012 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Boston Scientific Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BSX stock opened at $44.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Boston Scientific Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.20 and a 1-year high of $109.50. The firm has a market cap of $65.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Boston Scientific announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical equipment provider to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Boston Scientific Company Profile

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.