Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Boston Scientific Corporation $BSX

Key Points

• Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its Boston Scientific stake by 31.2% in the first quarter, selling 105,043 shares and ending with 231,497 shares worth about $14.5 million.
• Insiders were buying shares: directors David C. Habiger and Cheryl Pegus both purchased stock in May, and insiders bought 9,800 shares total over the last three months.
• Boston Scientific beat first-quarter expectations with EPS of $0.80 on revenue of $5.20 billion, and the company also authorized a $5 billion stock buyback.

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd reduced its stake in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX - Free Report) by 31.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 231,497 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after selling 105,043 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $14,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Boston Scientific during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Boston Scientific by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 7,556 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 1,971 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Boston Scientific by 97.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 123,592 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $13,275,000 after buying an additional 60,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Boston Scientific by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,102 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David C. Habiger acquired 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owned 13,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $776,057.76. The trade was a 19.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cheryl Pegus bought 1,770 shares of Boston Scientific stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $56.49 per share, for a total transaction of $99,987.30. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $99,987.30. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 9,800 shares of company stock valued at $554,012 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Boston Scientific in a report on Friday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $55.00 price target (down from $75.00) on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $87.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.84.

Boston Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:BSX opened at $44.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.06. Boston Scientific Corporation has a 1 year low of $42.20 and a 1 year high of $109.50.

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

Boston Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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