Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Position Lessened by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,711 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,526 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.08% of Merit Medical Systems worth $4,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter valued at about $718,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1,147.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 7,228 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 10.8% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,535 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,719,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 129,024 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMSI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.3 %

MMSI opened at $105.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 51.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.46 and a fifty-two week high of $106.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.59 and a 200-day moving average of $90.91.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

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

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.