abrdn plc Acquires 46,335 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 400,521 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,335 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $30,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 253.5% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 972 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $73.25 on Tuesday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.58 and a fifty-two week high of $85.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 5.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.22, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.64.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $324.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.66 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 14.63%. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MMSI shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total value of $1,380,476.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,257 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,109.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total value of $1,380,476.71. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,257 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,109.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,637 shares of company stock worth $3,751,673. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.