Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Barrington Research raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $114.00. Barrington Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Merit Medical Systems traded as high as $101.60 and last traded at $100.43, with a volume of 3502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.56.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MMSI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Baird R W upgraded Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.82.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 3,314 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a current ratio of 6.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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.