Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $105.82 and last traded at $105.75, with a volume of 7765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.59 and a 200-day moving average of $90.83. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 51.63, a PEG 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 (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2,666.7% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% 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.