Barrington Research Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at Barrington Research in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $114.00 target price on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Barrington Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.23% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.60.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $98.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 48.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.84. Merit Medical Systems has a 52-week low of $70.70 and a 52-week high of $108.07.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

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 on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 dated 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 sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 43.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 559,395 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,433,000 after purchasing an additional 168,174 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 13.9% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,357,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $134,165,000 after acquiring an additional 17,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.