Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,600,062 Shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 132,890,784 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,600,062 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Boston Scientific worth $11,869,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,060 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after buying an additional 4,233 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,039 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 1,475 shares during the period. 49 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Boston Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $208,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Boston Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,104,000. Finally, Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in Boston Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $294,000. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Boston Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Boston Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boston Scientific presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Bradley Sorenson sold 4,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $370,792.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,179,416.38. The trade was a 10.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey B. Mirviss sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.25, for a total transaction of $487,368.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,966,329.50. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 137,302 shares of company stock valued at $14,319,269. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Boston Scientific Trading Down 0.8 %

BSX stock opened at $100.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Boston Scientific Co. has a twelve month low of $66.80 and a twelve month high of $107.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.43.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. Boston Scientific had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 17.80%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.