New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 21.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,395 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 45,721 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $16,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.3% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,053,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $262,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,512 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.5% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,250,368 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $193,419,000 after purchasing an additional 75,885 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 17.6% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 880,327 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $66,685,000 after purchasing an additional 131,977 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 838,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $63,543,000 after purchasing an additional 22,077 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 147.2% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 634,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $54,545,000 after purchasing an additional 377,851 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $98.79 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.50. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.46 and a 12-month high of $101.60. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MMSI. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.36.

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.