Medical Device shares mixed in 3rd quarter

The medical device sector is often seen as a safe investment during times of financial uncertainty because health care spending is largely immune to economic slowdowns.

The economy is expected to weaken through the end of the year after an unprecedented series of bank failures and buyouts.

Shares of Medtronic, the world's largest medical device company, fell about 4.6 percent to $49.36 over the last three months. By comparison the S&P 500 is down about 13.5 percent for the same period.

Minneapolis-based Medtronic reported an 11 percent rise in profit for its most recent quarter, beating Wall Street estimates. However, some analysts expressed concern about lower-than-expected sales of the company's heart-shocking defibrillators, which grew a meager 5 percent. Some analysts also worried sales of the company's Endeavour drug-coated stent would decline in the face of new competition. The Endeavour launched in February.

St.Paul-based competitor, St. Jude Medical, saw it's shares rise 1.3 percent to $41.42 in the last quarter as it captured share of the defibrillator market from Medtronic. The firm also received approval for new heart-monitoring and surgical technology.

The third-largest company in the implantable defibrillator market, Boston Scientific Corp., saw its shares slip 3.7 percent in the last quarter.

In August, the Food and Drug Administration revealed that the company had previously recalled more than 2,000 stents due to a structural defect. And earlier this month an appeals court denied the company's request for a new trial of a patent dispute with Johnson & Johnson. A jury had previously ordered the company to pay $324 million for infringing J&J's patents. Boston Scientific said it would appeal the decision.

The Natick, Mass.-based company ended the quarter on a positive note with the Food and Drug Administration approving a new version of its Taxus drug-coated stent. The company said the approval suggests it is making progress in resolving a warning letter from FDA, which previously blocked the approval of new products.

Perhaps the quarter's biggest winner was Abbott Laboratories, a company which straddles both the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Shares of the North Chicago-based firm rose roughly 8 percent in the quarter to $57.40.