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

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) hit 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.56.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on MMSI. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently 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 Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $2,753,235. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $2,427,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $3,424,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter worth $1,083,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 17,716.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 9,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 9,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 22,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 5,915 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.22.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $338.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.94 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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.