St. Jude Shares Rise on Speculation of a Buyout

Shares of St. Jude Medical Inc., the third-largest U.S. maker of electronic heart devices, gained the most in almost two months today on speculation that the company may receive a takeover bid, Bloomberg News reported. St. Jude rose $1.82, or 4.1 percent, to $46.06 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The increase is the biggest since 5.5 percent on July 18, when the Little Canada-based company reported earnings that beat estimates. Johnson & Johnson is the rumored suitor, said Marc Weinberger, head trader at W. Quillen Securities in New York. J&J, of New Brunswick, N.J., lost to Boston Scientific Corp. in a bidding war for Guidant Corp., a maker of electronic heart devices. Boston Scientific, the second-largest heart-device maker behind Medtronic Inc., bought Guidant for $27.5 billion last year. “This is a rumor that has been around before, and I think that’s because it makes a lot of sense,” Weinberger said. Kathleen Janasz, a spokeswoman at St. Jude Medical, and Jeff Leebaw, a spokesman at J&J, declined to comment. SOURCE: Bloomberg