Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.70.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Tuesday.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.5 %

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $102.07 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $101.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Merit Medical Systems has a twelve month low of $70.70 and a twelve month high of $108.07.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 earnings per share 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 the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMSI. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $77,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,742 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,307,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,217 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $289,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 51,594 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.