Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $105.09.

A number of research firms have commented on MMSI. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $102.76 on Monday. Merit Medical Systems has a 1-year low of $70.31 and a 1-year high of $108.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.37 and its 200 day moving average is $93.27. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.37, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.84. 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 issued 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 0.3% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,053,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $262,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,512 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,289,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,236,000 after purchasing an additional 38,780 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $220,559,000 after acquiring an additional 15,098 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted 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 worth $155,879,000 after acquiring an additional 649,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,357,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,165,000 after acquiring an additional 17,490 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.