Diversified Trust Co Raises Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $56,921,000 after acquiring an additional 265,648 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 559,395 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,433,000 after acquiring an additional 168,174 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,398 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $98.14 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.11, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.85. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.70 and a 1 year high of $108.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the company’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 transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MMSI. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.70.

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.