Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,572 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,572 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.10% of Merit Medical Systems worth $5,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,991 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MMSI. Bank of America boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $105.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.65. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.46 and a 52 week high of $106.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.