StockNews.com Downgrades Utah Medical Products (NASDAQ:UTMD) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Utah Medical Products (NASDAQ:UTMD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Utah Medical Products Price Performance

NASDAQ:UTMD opened at $67.91 on Thursday. Utah Medical Products has a 1-year low of $63.38 and a 1-year high of $87.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.31. The firm has a market cap of $236.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.08.

Utah Medical Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.305 dividend. This is an increase from Utah Medical Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Utah Medical Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Utah Medical Products by 123.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,399 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $597,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Utah Medical Products by 56.8% in the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 35,602 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after buying an additional 12,903 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Utah Medical Products by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,141 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $13,023,000 after purchasing an additional 12,402 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in Utah Medical Products by 124.1% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Utah Medical Products by 177.6% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 32,310 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 20,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.60% of the company’s stock.

About Utah Medical Products

Utah Medical Products, Inc develops, manufactures, and distributes medical devices for the healthcare industry worldwide. It offers fetal monitoring accessories, vacuum-assisted delivery systems, and other labor and delivery tools; DISPOSA-HOOD infant respiratory hoods; and DELTRAN PLUS blood pressure monitoring systems.