LeMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $66.77, but opened at $72.00. LeMaitre Vascular shares last traded at $71.15, with a volume of 86,778 shares trading hands.

The medical instruments supplier reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.05. LeMaitre Vascular had a net margin of 16.99% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $53.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

LeMaitre Vascular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. LeMaitre Vascular’s payout ratio is 42.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LMAT. Barrington Research increased their target price on shares of LeMaitre Vascular from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LeMaitre Vascular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of LeMaitre Vascular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $59.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of LeMaitre Vascular in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of LeMaitre Vascular from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lawrence J. Jasinski sold 5,110 shares of LeMaitre Vascular stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.50, for a total value of $344,925.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $358,357.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lawrence J. Jasinski sold 5,110 shares of LeMaitre Vascular stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.50, for a total value of $344,925.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $358,357.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George W. Lemaitre sold 36,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.03, for a total transaction of $2,489,898.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,187,526 shares in the company, valued at $148,817,393.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,036 shares of company stock worth $7,873,749 in the last quarter. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LeMaitre Vascular

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whitegate Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in LeMaitre Vascular in the 1st quarter worth $216,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in LeMaitre Vascular by 135.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,917 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 13,189 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LeMaitre Vascular during the 1st quarter valued at about $401,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LeMaitre Vascular during the 1st quarter valued at about $601,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,835 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669 shares in the last quarter. 84.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LeMaitre Vascular Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $65.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.88.

About LeMaitre Vascular

LeMaitre Vascular, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices and implants used in the field of vascular surgery worldwide. It offers human cadaver tissue cryopreservation services; angioscope, a fiberoptic catheter used for viewing the lumen of a blood vessel; embolectomy catheters to remove blood clots from arteries; thrombectomy catheters for removing thrombi in the venous system; occlusion catheters that temporarily occlude the blood flow; and perfusion catheters to perfuse the blood and other fluids into the vasculature.