SageView Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

SageView Advisory Group LLC cut its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,262 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,151,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $163,461,000 after buying an additional 11,995 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,306,702 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $99,258,000 after buying an additional 41,065 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 728,188 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $55,313,000 after buying an additional 20,031 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 719,716 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $49,675,000 after acquiring an additional 11,967 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 652,626 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $49,573,000 after acquiring an additional 10,659 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

MMSI opened at $81.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.84, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.91. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.58 and a 1-year high of $85.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 4.38.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $323.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 15.02%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $613,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,935.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MMSI. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. CL King assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $112.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.78.

Merit Medical Systems Profile

Merit Medical Systems, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and markets single-use medical products for interventional, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Cardiovascular and Endoscopy. The company provides micropuncture kits, angiographic needles, sheaths, guide wires, and safety products; peripheral intervention, including angiography, drainage, delivery systems, and embolotherapy products; spine products, such as vertebral augmentation, radiofrequency ablation, and bone biopsy systems; oncology products; and cardiac intervention products, such as access, angiography, electrophysiology and cardiac rhythm management, fluid management, hemodynamic monitoring, hemostasis, and intervention to treat various heart conditions.