Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Cuts Stock Position in Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its stake in shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 188,839 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 86,782 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $10,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BSX. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 6.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 125,920,357 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,648,595,000 after purchasing an additional 8,045,263 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 391.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,271,810 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $172,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606,253 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 5.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 42,076,529 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,221,641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336,348 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 39.3% during the third quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 6,129,573 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $323,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Boston Scientific by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,768,348 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,534,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,432 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.89, for a total transaction of $467,092.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,779,820.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 6,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.89, for a total transaction of $467,092.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,779,820.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Bradley Sorenson sold 16,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total value of $1,133,124.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,509,213.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,979 shares of company stock worth $3,418,529. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Boston Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of BSX traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.13. 8,786,250 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,588,116. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Boston Scientific Co. has a twelve month low of $48.35 and a twelve month high of $74.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.37.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical equipment provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BSX. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Boston Scientific from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut Boston Scientific from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Boston Scientific from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Boston Scientific from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Scientific from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.09.

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.