Shares of St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) hit a 52-week high in mid-day trading on Wall Street today, with investors basking in the glow of a bullish recommendation from a JP Morgan analyst on the company’s new Quadra implantable defibrillator system.
In a note to investors, Michael Weinstein, a J.P. Morgan analyst, called the device “the most important new product” in implantable defibrillators in the last nine years.
“Within three years, they’re likely to become the standard of care, owing to the ability to improve both the safety and efficacy of [cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator] implantation,” Weinstein wrote, citing a survey the brokerage firm conducted which found that 82 percent of electro-physiologists expect St. Jude to gobble up market share from rivals Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT).
Shares of St. Jude hit $51.93 in mid-day trading before falling back slightly.
St. Jude launched the Quadra platform ICD in the European Union in May of 2010.
