Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in CONMED Co. (NYSE:CNMD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of CONMED Co. (NYSE:CNMD) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 595,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,556 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CONMED were worth $41,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CONMED by 36.1% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,303,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,349,000 after acquiring an additional 345,735 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in CONMED in the 1st quarter worth about $27,343,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in CONMED by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,757,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,931,000 after purchasing an additional 289,996 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in CONMED in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,117,000. Finally, Kempner Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CONMED in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,480,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on CONMED from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CONMED from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of CONMED from $88.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on CONMED from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on CONMED from $106.00 to $97.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stanley W. Peters III sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.82, for a total transaction of $287,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63 shares in the company, valued at $4,524.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

CONMED Stock Performance

CNMD opened at $73.22 on Friday. CONMED Co. has a twelve month low of $61.05 and a twelve month high of $117.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.42.

CONMED (NYSE:CNMD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.06. CONMED had a return on equity of 14.12% and a net margin of 7.73%. The business had revenue of $332.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CONMED Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CONMED Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. CONMED’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.65%.

About CONMED

CONMED Corporation, a medical technology company, develops, manufactures, and sells surgical devices and related equipment for surgical procedures worldwide. The company offers orthopedic surgery products, including BioBrace, TruShot with Y-Knot All-In-One Soft Tissue Fixation System, Y-knot All-Suture Anchors, and Agro Knotless Suture Anchors, which provide clinical solutions to orthopedic surgeons for the augmentation and repair of soft tissue injuries, as well as provides supporting products that enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive sports medicine surgeries.