Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX - Free Report) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,010,441 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 111,724 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Boston Scientific worth $168,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. &PARTNERS lifted its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 95.6% in the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 9,812 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 4,796 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Boston Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Boston Scientific by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 5,578 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 13.4% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Boston Scientific by 0.3% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 324,306 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $24,975,000 after purchasing an additional 964 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 Boston Scientific news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 6,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.86, for a total transaction of $585,594.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,913,967.28. This trade represents a 16.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael F. Mahoney sold 162,777 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.63, for a total value of $13,775,817.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,572,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $133,046,484.48. The trade was a 9.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 328,157 shares of company stock worth $27,957,676 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Boston Scientific from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Boston Scientific from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Boston Scientific presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.96.

Boston Scientific Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BSX traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.95. The stock had a trading volume of 15,881,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,000,576. The business's fifty day moving average price is $88.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.26. The firm has a market cap of $131.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.80. Boston Scientific Co. has a 52-week low of $54.96 and a 52-week high of $91.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.04 billion. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 17.23% and a net margin of 11.26%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boston Scientific Company Profile

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.