Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.66 Million Investment in ResMed Inc. $RMD

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,400 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,661,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RMD. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of ResMed by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 49,017 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,417,000 after buying an additional 27,060 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of ResMed by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,084,996 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $262,027,000 after buying an additional 294,124 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ResMed by 20.2% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 112,755 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,847,000 after buying an additional 18,966 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in ResMed by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 979,087 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $235,833,000 after acquiring an additional 118,296 shares during the period. Finally, Dundas Partners LLP grew its holdings in ResMed by 15.1% during the third quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 175,117 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $47,935,000 after acquiring an additional 22,933 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ResMed news, CEO Michael J. Farrell sold 4,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.96, for a total transaction of $968,054.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 466,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,435,013.76. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,973 shares of company stock valued at $3,130,754. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on RMD shares. Robert W. Baird set a $225.00 target price on ResMed in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ResMed from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $286.00) on shares of ResMed in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of ResMed from $314.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ResMed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ResMed currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.82.

ResMed Stock Performance

Shares of RMD stock opened at $201.01 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $201.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 3.01. The stock has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.78. ResMed Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.26 and a 1 year high of $293.81.

ResMed (NYSE:RMD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.07. ResMed had a return on equity of 25.35% and a net margin of 27.44%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. ResMed’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that ResMed Inc. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ResMed Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. ResMed’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.14%.

About ResMed

ResMed (NYSE: RMD) is a global medical device and cloud-connectivity company focused on improving outcomes for people with sleep-disordered breathing and chronic respiratory conditions. Founded in 1989, the company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and develops, manufactures and distributes a range of devices and software used by patients, clinicians and providers worldwide.

ResMed’s product portfolio centers on noninvasive ventilation and sleep therapy equipment, including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bilevel devices, masks and related accessories for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and other respiratory disorders.