ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of ICU Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICUI) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $142.87, but opened at $135.35. ICU Medical shares last traded at $140.00, with a volume of 36,113 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp reduced their target price on ICU Medical from $209.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of ICU Medical from $197.00 to $187.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of ICU Medical in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ICU Medical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICU Medical

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in ICU Medical in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of ICU Medical by 764.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in ICU Medical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in ICU Medical by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in ICU Medical by 88.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 638 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

ICU Medical Trading Down 3.2 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.26 and a beta of 0.87.

ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $599.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.15 million. ICU Medical had a positive return on equity of 5.05% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. ICU Medical’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that ICU Medical, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.