ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,779 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,705 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $755,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,083,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 17,716.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 9,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 9,921 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 22,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 5,915 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,953 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,011,000 after purchasing an additional 18,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4,411.3% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 518,485 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,275,000 after purchasing an additional 506,992 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Baird R W upgraded Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.82.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI opened at $97.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.92. The company has a quick ratio of 4.64, a current ratio of 6.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.87. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.58 and a 52 week high of $101.60.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $338.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.94 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 15.29%. On average, equities analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.