Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.36.

MMSI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $59,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2,666.7% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 142.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.6 %

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $104.08 on Thursday. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $65.46 and a 12 month high of $105.46. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.46. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Merit Medical Systems

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.