Medline (NASDAQ:MDLN) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Medline beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $0.44 versus the $0.32 consensus and revenue of $7.86 billion.
• Shares jumped from a prior close of $34.09 to an opening price of $37.37, and last traded at $37.8190.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $46.54; insiders have sold about $312 million in shares over the past 90 days.

Medline (NASDAQ:MDLN - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $34.09, but opened at $37.37. Medline shares last traded at $37.8190, with a volume of 2,193,313 shares.

The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.86 billion for the quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Medline from $53.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $42.00 target price on shares of Medline in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Medline from $53.00 to $46.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Medline from $53.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Medline from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.54.

Insider Activity at Medline

In other news, major shareholder Private Ltd Gic sold 2,088,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $73,218,994.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,453,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at $576,705,900.30. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,810,954 shares of company stock worth $312,416,990. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Medline

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Medline by 21.4% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 215,114 shares of the company's stock worth $7,464,000 after buying an additional 37,928 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Medline by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Medline by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 2,925 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Medline in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Medline during the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000.

Medline Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $49.90 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.33, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $34.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.54.

About Medline

Medline Industries, Inc is a medical-supply manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Northfield, Illinois. The company provides products and supply-chain services to healthcare organizations, including hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, physician offices, long-term care facilities, home health providers and other care settings.

Its product portfolio includes medical-surgical supplies, surgical and operating-room products, patient-care items, examination gloves, protective apparel, laboratory products, respiratory-care equipment, durable medical equipment and products for infection prevention.

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