LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, a growth of 37.5% from the December 31st total of 880,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 157,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.7 days. Currently, 5.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

LeMaitre Vascular Trading Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ LMAT opened at $96.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.85. LeMaitre Vascular has a 52 week low of $56.61 and a 52 week high of $109.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96.

LeMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.05. LeMaitre Vascular had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $54.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LeMaitre Vascular will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LeMaitre Vascular

In other news, Director Bridget A. Ross sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.47, for a total value of $380,512.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,148.66. This represents a 62.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LeMaitre Vascular

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 433 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of LeMaitre Vascular during the third quarter valued at $60,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 34.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 736 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in LeMaitre Vascular by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,112 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in LeMaitre Vascular during the fourth quarter valued at $150,000. 84.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on LMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on LeMaitre Vascular in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of LeMaitre Vascular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barrington Research increased their target price on shares of LeMaitre Vascular from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of LeMaitre Vascular in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.57.

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.