Scotia Capital Inc. Increases Stock Position in ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD)

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,564 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,890 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in ResMed were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in ResMed in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of ResMed in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton purchased a new stake in shares of ResMed during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in ResMed during the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in ResMed in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. 54.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ResMed

In other ResMed news, CEO Michael J. Farrell sold 8,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.77, for a total value of $1,896,290.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 455,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,842,105.44. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter C. Farrell sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.74, for a total transaction of $439,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 73,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,088,923.32. This trade represents a 2.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,013 shares of company stock valued at $11,298,816. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RMD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ResMed from $270.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of ResMed from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of ResMed from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of ResMed in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded ResMed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ResMed currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.73.

ResMed Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:RMD opened at $213.59 on Friday. ResMed Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.19 and a 1 year high of $263.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $225.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $235.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The company has a market cap of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.75.

ResMed (NYSE:RMD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.14. ResMed had a return on equity of 26.17% and a net margin of 25.34%. As a group, analysts expect that ResMed Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

ResMed Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. ResMed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.03%.

About ResMed

ResMed Inc develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets medical devices and cloud-based software applications for the healthcare markets. The company operates in two segments, Sleep and Respiratory Care, and Software as a Service. It offers various products and solutions for a range of respiratory disorders, including ApneaLink Air, a portable diagnostic device that measures oximetry, respiratory effort, pulse, nasal flow, and snoring; and NightOwl, a portable, cloud-connected, and disposable diagnostic device that measures AHI based on derived peripheral arterial tone, actigraphy, and oximetry over several nights.