Cyberonics Shares Climb On Raised Price Target

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Cyberonics Inc. jumped Wednesday after a Lazard Capital Markets analyst boosted his price target for the company, citing a positive physician survey.

The stock gained $1.05, or 7.5 percent, to $15.09 in afternoon trading. Shares of the Houston-based company traded between $9.84 and $28.95 over the last 52 weeks.

Lazard analyst Dr. Sean Lavin increased his price target to $21 from $19 and reaffirmed a "Buy" rating on the market prospects for the VNS Therapy system in treating epilepsy. The system is shaped like a pacemaker and is implanted in the chest, sending electrical signals to nerves in the neck. It was approved by the FDA in 2005 to treat depression and in 1997 to treat epilepsy.

Though approved, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rejected coverage of the device as a depression treatment in 2007, saying it didn't see a clear benefit from the device's use.

Focusing on epilepsy, though, Lavin said a Lazard survey of 30 neurologists showed 77 percent refer patients to the system. A survey of 12 neurosurgeons showed that 67 percent implant the device.