WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran announces that a lawsuit seeking class action status has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota against St. Jude Medical, Inc. ("St. Jude" or the "Company") (NYSE:STJ) between January 25, 2006 and April 4, 2006, inclusive, (the "Class Period"). Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran is investigating similar claims at this time and welcomes inquiries from potential class members concerning their rights and interests in this matter.
The lawsuit alleges that St. Jude violated federal securities laws by issuing false or misleading public statements regarding the sales success and prospects of a major St. Jude product, its implantable cardioverter defibrillator systems ("ICD"). Specifically, on January 25, 2006, St. Jude reported that fourth quarter ICD product sales were $280 million, a 62% increase over the comparable quarter of 2004 and that ICD product sales for the full-year 2005 were $1.007 billion, representing a 72% increase over 2004. This complaint alleges this was the result of an effort by St. Jude to push sales of ICDs into the fourth quarter of 2005 so as to inflate the stock price and achieve extraordinary personal benefits for top insiders.
On April 4, 2006, St. Jude shocked the market by announcing (1) its financial and operating results were well below analysts' expectations and (2) sales of ICDs were declining. On this news, shares of St. Jude fell $5.05 per share, on extremely high volume, to close at $36.25 -- a drop of over 10%.
If you are a member of the class, you may, no later than June 9, 2006, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff of the class. A lead plaintiff is a class member appointed by the Court to direct the litigation on behalf of the class. Although a class member need not be appointed as a lead plaintiff to receive a proportionate share of any proceeds of the litigation, lead plaintiffs make important decisions that could affect the prosecution of the class claims, including decisions concerning settlement. The securities laws create a rebuttable presumption that the plaintiff with the largest financial interest in the litigation is the most adequate to serve as a lead plaintiff.
With offices in Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA, Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran has spent almost three decades delivering outstanding representation to institutional and individual clients in connection with securities and other finance-related litigation, and has been appointed as lead or co-lead counsel in dozens of shareholder class actions. Indeed, in the past ten years, the firm has served in leadership roles in cases that have recovered over $1 billion for investors and consumers.
If you have any questions concerning this press release or your rights or interests, please contact Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran's Washington, DC office at (877) 337-1050, or by email at . DATASOURCE: Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran CONTACT: Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran, +1-877-337-1050, or Web site: http://www.ftllaw.com/
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