Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.38.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BSX. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Boston Scientific from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Boston Scientific in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Boston Scientific from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd.

Boston Scientific Price Performance

Shares of BSX opened at $83.51 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.23 and a 200-day moving average of $74.28. Boston Scientific has a 1 year low of $48.35 and a 1 year high of $84.11. The company has a market capitalization of $122.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. Boston Scientific had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Boston Scientific will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boston Scientific news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 6,983 shares of Boston Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.70, for a total transaction of $570,511.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,061,135.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $1,627,877. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boston Scientific

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,437,884 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,728,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988,082 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in Boston Scientific by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,905,659 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,191,326,000 after acquiring an additional 550,490 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Boston Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $930,626,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,008,085 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,096,394,000 after acquiring an additional 6,588,256 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,922,773 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,072,195,000 after purchasing an additional 360,793 shares during the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Boston Scientific

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.