Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 821 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $112,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $120,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of 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 downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.10.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MMSI opened at $103.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.70 and a 52-week high of $108.07. The firm has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.82, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $101.04 and its 200-day moving average is $96.34.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.