Palouse Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MMSI opened at $98.71 on Thursday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.58 and a twelve month high of $100.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 6.24, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.82.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $338.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.94 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $1,062,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,235. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MMSI shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Baird R W raised shares of Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.55.

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.