Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 300,264 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 17,376 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.52% of Merit Medical Systems worth $29,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,142,000 after purchasing an additional 84,923 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter valued at about $718,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 3.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 221,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $21,910,000 after buying an additional 6,837 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 10.8% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,535 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,719,000 after buying an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMSI has been the subject of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.60.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $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 insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI opened at $98.08 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.04. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.70 and a 52-week high of $108.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The company has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 48.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.84.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merit Medical Systems 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.