Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in shares of Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,094 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,147 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,846,328 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,266,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,172 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,820,828 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,750,385,000 after acquiring an additional 718,515 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,584,841 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,469,607,000 after acquiring an additional 480,729 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,475,031 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $756,990,000 after acquiring an additional 456,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,800,912 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $518,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,977 shares during the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BSX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Boston Scientific from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Boston Scientific from $119.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Boston Scientific from $111.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Boston Scientific from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Boston Scientific from $105.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Boston Scientific currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Arthur C. Butcher sold 17,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.80, for a total value of $1,762,463.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $560,103.60. This trade represents a 75.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Bradley Sorenson sold 1,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $127,678.31. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,704,845.33. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,302 shares of company stock valued at $14,319,269 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Boston Scientific Trading Up 0.9 %

Boston Scientific stock opened at $96.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $142.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.14, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.77. Boston Scientific Co. has a one year low of $65.52 and a one year high of $107.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $100.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.52.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.05. Boston Scientific had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 17.80%. On average, analysts forecast that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share 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.