JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 85.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 265,648 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $56,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MMSI. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $155,879,000 after buying an additional 649,799 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 147.2% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 634,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $54,545,000 after acquiring an additional 377,851 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 218.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 445,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $44,029,000 after purchasing an additional 305,800 shares during the last quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter worth about $25,004,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $21,156,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MMSI. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on 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, StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.70.

Insider Transactions 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 that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $95.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.81. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.70 and a twelve month high of $108.07. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.01, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Research analysts forecast 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.