More deals ahead for Covidien? | Wall Street Beat

As Covidien (NYSE:COV) closed its 4th recent acquisition, analysts speculated that there may be more deals on the near future.

The Mansfield, Mass.-based company may be looking to pick up some assets in hypertension treatment, or may keep its sights on additional acquisitions in Israel.

A report by MedCity News speculated that Covidien’s support for Maya Medical’s renal denervation systems may soon lead to a buyout.

An unnamed investor told Israel’s Globes business news that Covidien will likely be on the lookout for "activities in their existing areas or areas in which their major competitors are not operating."

That may include pulmonary devices, anesthetics intensive care and monitoring, the investor added.

Covidien picked up 3 Israeli device makers on its recent shopping spree. The company spent spent $300 million for patient monitoring device maker Oridion (SWF:ORIDN), $300 million plus possible earnouts for superDimension and an undisclosed amount for hernia mesh maker PolyTouch Medical Ltd.

Covidien this week also closed the $108 million acquisition of Newport Medical Instruments, a deal initially announced in March.

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A decreasing percentage of survey respondents reported that their hospital capital budgets had increased or remained flat for 2012, with most attributing the cuts to reductions in reimbursement and debt concerns, according to a survey conducted by the group purchasing organization Premier Healthcare Alliance.
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 Medic Vision, BRIT Systems sign U.S. deal for SafeCT
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Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based Corpak picked up all the intellectual property and other assets of Micronix for an undisclosed amount.  Read more

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 HCL Technologies and Becton Dickinson join forces for R&D

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 EndoEvolution licenses MIS suturing device to Edwards Lifesciences’

Chelmsford, Mass.-based EndoEvolution signed an exclusive worldwide agreement to license its Endo360 deg MIS suturing device to Edwards Lifesciences’ (NYSE:EW) for cardiac-related applications only. Read more

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Teleflex (NYSE:TFX) notched a new 52-week high yesterday, opening at $64.79 per share before closing at $63.66. Shares jumped after the medical device maker revealed a pair of acquisitions and earnings well above Wall Street’s expectations.

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 Funding Roundup

• Solta Medical prices $75M offering of stock, warrants and securities
• Henry Shein announces new $200M private placement shelf agreement with MetLife
• InHealth doles out more than $440k in med-tech grants to Mass. General Hospital and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine

 Analysts’ ups and downs

• Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX): Deutsche cuts price target from $82 to $81 on low organic growth
• Biogen Idec (NSDQ:BIIB): Jeffries raises price target from $137 to $154
• Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW): Goldman Sachs maintains "buy" rating, raises price target from $90 to $97; Wells Fargo upgrades to "outperform" rating on Sapien sales and reimbursement outlook; Cannacord Genuity maintains "buy" rating, raises price target fro $86 to $93; Leerink Swann maintain "outperform" rating and $90 price target
• Haemonetics (NYSE:HAE): Morgan Stanley raises to "equal weight" rating, maintains $55 price target
• Hologic (NSDQ:HOLX): Cantor Fitzgerald maintains "hold" rating, boost price target from $18 to $20
• Hospira (NYSE:HSP): Leerink Swann hand down "market perform" rating, $36 price target
• Medidata NSDQ:MDSO): Jeffries maintains "buy" rating, increases price target from $31 to $34
• NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA): Baird ups rating to "outperform," raises price target from $18 to $24; William Blair lifts rating to "outperform"; Cannacord Genuity maintains "buy" rating, increases price target from $21 to $27
• Solta Medical (NSDQ:SLTM): Leerink Swann hands down "outperform" rating, raises price target from $4.12 to $4.95
• Spectranetics (NSDQ:SPNC): Barrington Research maintains an "outperform" rating and $13 price target
• Teleflex (NYSE:TFX): Jeffries raises price target to $64, maintains "hold" rating; Leerink Swann maintains "market perform" rating
• Thoratec (NSDQ:THOR): Oppenheimer & Co. maintains "outperform rating," raises price target from $40 to $42; Leerink Swann maintains "outperform" rating and $45 price target
• Wright Medical (NSDQ:WMGI): Jeffries raises price target to to $19, upgrades to "hold" rating