Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Position Reduced by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 124 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,376 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MMSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $98.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.73, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 6.24 and a quick ratio of 4.64. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.58 and a 12 month high of $100.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $91.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.82.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.