Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $11,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,991 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following 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. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MMSI. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

MMSI opened at $105.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.89. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.46 and a 1-year high of $106.87.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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.