Oppenheimer Reiterates Rating, Lowers Price Target On Insulet As New Management Begins Executing Plan

In a report published Friday, Oppenheimer analyst Steven Lichtman reiterated an Outperform rating on Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD), but lowered the price target from $50.00 to $39.00.In the report, Oppenheimer noted, “‎Comments by PODD this week on '14 results indicated that US diabetes growth, particularly new patient adds, was lower than Street estimates. New patient adds declined ~9% following a 30% increase in '13 on the next-gen Omnipod launch. We estimate '14 US OmniPod revs grew 16%. International was the offset and OUS revs doubled in '14. Early indications on FY15 imply mid-teens top-line guidance (vs. our previous 23-24%). There may be some new management conservatism embedded and there are potential accelerators including increased sales/marketing investment and AMGN/Neulasta launch in '15 and a new handheld launch/CGM connectivity and Type 2 pump launch in '16. Near term, the story is in show-me stage as new management begins executing its plan.”Insulet closed on Thursday at $31.86.