Ratings changes by an analyst with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch elevated one medical device company’s stock today in pre-marker trading but pushed two others down.
Appearing this morning on Bloomberg television, BAML’s Bob Hopkins said Wall Street isn’t foucsed enough on the July 31 investor day at Cardiovascular Systems (NSDQ:CSII), according to Seeking Alpha. The St. Paul, Minn.-based company plans to emphasize new product releases in the near term and could be in store for sustained double-digit earnings growth, Hopkins said.
The analyst upgraded his rating on CSII shares from “underperform” to “buy” and boosted his price target from $30 to $40, representing a 33% premium on yesterday’s $30.78 closing price. The upgrade sent the stock up 1.1% to $31.12 today before the market’s opening.
NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA) and Globus Medical (NYSE:GMED) didn’t fare as well, as Hopkins downgraded both stocks to “underperform.
That sent NUVA shares down -2.2% to $51.60 apiece pre-market and pared -2.7% from GMED shares, which were at $51.85 before the open.
