LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) Short Interest Update

LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, an increase of 37.5% from the December 15th total of 880,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 157,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.7 days.

LeMaitre Vascular Price Performance

LeMaitre Vascular stock opened at $97.76 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96. LeMaitre Vascular has a 1-year low of $55.04 and a 1-year high of $109.58.

LeMaitre Vascular (NASDAQ:LMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $54.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.50 million. LeMaitre Vascular had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that LeMaitre Vascular will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LeMaitre Vascular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. LeMaitre Vascular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bridget A. Ross sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.47, for a total value of $380,512.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,278 shares in the company, valued at $231,148.66. This trade represents a 62.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LeMaitre Vascular

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular in the 2nd quarter valued at about $104,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in LeMaitre Vascular by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,372 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 215,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $17,759,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of LeMaitre Vascular by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 140,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of LeMaitre Vascular during the 2nd quarter worth $82,000. 84.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of LeMaitre Vascular in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of LeMaitre Vascular from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on LeMaitre Vascular in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LeMaitre Vascular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.