Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Acquired by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 216.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,064 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 6,887 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 142.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MMSI shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $103.66 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.91 and a 200-day moving average of $91.41. The firm has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.89. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.46 and a twelve month high of $106.87. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The business had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.70% 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.