Needham & Company LLC Reiterates "Buy" Rating for Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX)

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $115.00 price objective on the medical equipment provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.29% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Boston Scientific from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Boston Scientific from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Boston Scientific to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.87.

Boston Scientific Stock Performance

BSX stock traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,755,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,381,895. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $100.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.61. The firm has a market cap of $155.67 billion, a PE ratio of 84.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.68. Boston Scientific has a 12 month low of $71.88 and a 12 month high of $107.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. Boston Scientific had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Boston Scientific's revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Boston Scientific will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Boston Scientific news, EVP John Bradley Sorenson sold 4,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.54, for a total transaction of $477,956.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,955,420.70. The trade was a 19.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Vance R. Brown sold 4,826 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.09, for a total value of $458,904.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 36,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,441,592.37. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,155 shares of company stock valued at $19,556,047. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boston Scientific

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 134,588,729 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $13,577,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,697,945 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Boston Scientific by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,165,399 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $3,230,293,000 after purchasing an additional 3,344,571 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Boston Scientific by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,626,170 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $2,729,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,329 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,899,903 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $2,492,041,000 after acquiring an additional 6,216,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,312,967 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,992,994,000 after acquiring an additional 554,388 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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