C.R. Bard: +16%

C.R. Bard received a stock price boost in late July, when the company reported that second-quarter sales were up 4% year-over-year, to $859.8 million.

"A key objective of our investment plan was to accelerate the growth rate of the company. In Q2, every business performed either at the top or above our stated guidance range for each category," C.R. Bard CEO Timothy Ring told analysts in a July 24 earnings call transcribed by Seeking Alpha.

Ring noted that the major growth drivers for C.R. Bard--including emerging markets, drug-coated balloons, biosurgery, homecare, and targeted temperature management--all grew in the "healthy double-digits." Wall Street appears to have like the news, with Goldman Sachs and Zacks among those upgrading their ratings of the Murray Hill, NJ-based company to "Buy."

C.R. Bard in early July spent $90 million plus milestones on Vascular Pathways, which has technology that could enhance C.R. Bard's  wire-assisted vascular access devices.

The company touts the Lutonix Drug-Coated Balloon, shown above, as the first FDA-approved DCB. It recently received extra Medicare coverage.