Candriam S.C.A. Has $2.46 Million Position in ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD)

Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,733 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in ResMed were worth $2,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ResMed by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,261,633 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,528,590,000 after acquiring an additional 116,918 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ResMed by 10.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,858,814 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $939,114,000 after acquiring an additional 380,383 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ResMed by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 957,020 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $218,861,000 after acquiring an additional 32,973 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of ResMed by 0.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 742,411 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $181,237,000 after acquiring an additional 2,406 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ResMed by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 668,908 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $152,973,000 after acquiring an additional 250,746 shares during the period. 54.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on RMD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of ResMed from $270.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised shares of ResMed from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of ResMed in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of ResMed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of ResMed from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.82.

ResMed Stock Up 3.3 %

RMD stock opened at $232.40 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. ResMed Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.19 and a 12 month high of $263.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $236.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.04.

ResMed (NYSE:RMD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that ResMed Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ResMed Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. ResMed’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Farrell sold 8,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 owns 455,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,842,105.44. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kaushik Ghoshal sold 9,113 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.40, for a total value of $2,145,200.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,289,265. This represents a 48.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,186 shares of company stock valued at $4,996,646 over the last quarter. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.