LeMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of LeMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded LeMaitre Vascular from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barrington Research increased their price target on LeMaitre Vascular from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp started coverage on LeMaitre Vascular in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They issued a sector weight rating on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on LeMaitre Vascular from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $73.83.

LeMaitre Vascular Stock Performance

Shares of LMAT opened at $74.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 49.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $65.93 and its 200 day moving average is $58.85. LeMaitre Vascular has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $74.64.

LeMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.05. LeMaitre Vascular had a net margin of 16.99% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm had revenue of $53.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that LeMaitre Vascular will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

LeMaitre Vascular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. LeMaitre Vascular’s payout ratio is 42.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John A. Roush sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,182. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other LeMaitre Vascular news, Director John A. Roush sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total transaction of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,182. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence J. Jasinski sold 5,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.50, for a total value of $344,925.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $358,357.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,036 shares of company stock valued at $7,873,749. 10.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LeMaitre Vascular

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 0.3% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,932,917 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $128,268,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,548,870 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $87,914,000 after purchasing an additional 38,303 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,259,961 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $71,515,000 after purchasing an additional 28,720 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 912,503 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $51,794,000 after purchasing an additional 13,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 12.0% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 666,083 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $44,201,000 after purchasing an additional 71,411 shares in the last quarter. 84.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About LeMaitre Vascular

LeMaitre Vascular, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices and implants used in the field of vascular surgery worldwide. It offers human cadaver tissue cryopreservation services; angioscope, a fiberoptic catheter used for viewing the lumen of a blood vessel; embolectomy catheters to remove blood clots from arteries; thrombectomy catheters for removing thrombi in the venous system; occlusion catheters that temporarily occlude the blood flow; and perfusion catheters to perfuse the blood and other fluids into the vasculature.