ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ICU Medical in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on ICU Medical from $198.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of ICU Medical in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on ICU Medical from $158.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.00.

ICU Medical Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ICUI opened at $169.70 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $176.59 and its 200 day moving average is $144.30. ICU Medical has a fifty-two week low of $82.82 and a fifty-two week high of $196.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of -37.13 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Vivek Jain sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.46, for a total value of $2,141,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,665,666.78. This represents a 10.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel Woolson sold 2,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.22, for a total value of $408,376.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,139,324.54. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock valued at $6,573,496 in the last three months. 6.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICU Medical

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ICUI. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in ICU Medical by 441.7% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,818 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 4,744 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in ICU Medical by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 28,586 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,068,000 after buying an additional 9,793 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in ICU Medical by 109.4% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 278,436 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $29,882,000 after buying an additional 145,485 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ICU Medical by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,452,720 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $263,226,000 after buying an additional 11,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in ICU Medical during the 2nd quarter valued at $431,000. 96.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ICU Medical

ICU Medical, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells medical devices used in infusion therapy, vascular access, and vital care applications worldwide. Its infusion therapy products include needlefree products under the MicroClave, MicroClave Clear, and NanoClave brands; Neutron catheter patency devices; ChemoClave and ChemoLock closed system transfer devices, which are used to limit the escape of hazardous drugs or vapor concentrations, block the transfer of environmental contaminants into the system, and eliminates the risk of needlestick injury; Tego needle free connectors; Deltec GRIPPER non-coring needles for portal access; and ClearGuard, SwabCap, and SwabTip disinfection caps.