ICU Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICUI) Short Interest Up 13.5% in July

ICU Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICUI) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, a growth of 13.5% from the June 30th total of 1,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 297,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised ICU Medical from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on ICU Medical in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ICU Medical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at ICU Medical

In other news, COO Christian B. Voigtlander sold 12,539 shares of ICU Medical stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.95, for a total transaction of $1,303,429.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Christian B. Voigtlander sold 12,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.95, for a total transaction of $1,303,429.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elisha W. Finney sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.95, for a total transaction of $31,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,438.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,839 shares of company stock worth $1,546,014. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ICUI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ICU Medical by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,773 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $19,227,000 after buying an additional 23,816 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ICU Medical by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 242,808 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,223,000 after acquiring an additional 66,221 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ICU Medical by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,335 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $10,706,000 after purchasing an additional 29,464 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of ICU Medical by 16.3% in the first quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 51,819 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,463,000 after purchasing an additional 7,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of ICU Medical by 417.8% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,475 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 10,066 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ICU Medical Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICUI traded down $1.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $126.58. The company had a trading volume of 253,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,126. ICU Medical has a 52 week low of $78.28 and a 52 week high of $179.01. The business’s 50-day moving average is $115.90 and its 200 day moving average is $105.70. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.26 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 2.61.

ICU Medical (NASDAQ:ICUI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. ICU Medical had a positive return on equity of 5.38% and a negative net margin of 2.63%. The company had revenue of $566.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $553.15 million. Equities research analysts predict that ICU Medical will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICU Medical Company Profile

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.