Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Reaches New 1-Year High at $85.37

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $85.37 and last traded at $84.82, with a volume of 38851 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMSI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barrington Research raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $112.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.10.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 4.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.61.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,212,935.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $227,000. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $599,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 838,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $63,543,000 after purchasing an additional 22,077 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merit Medical Systems Company 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.