Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MMSI. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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 report on Tuesday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.78.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $76.63 on Thursday. Merit Medical Systems has a 52-week low of $62.58 and a 52-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 $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.99.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 7.51%. The firm had revenue of $323.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,109.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $887,917.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,637 shares of company stock valued at $3,751,673. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 103,099 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,116,000 after buying an additional 42,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 607,881 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $41,956,000 after buying an additional 125,605 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 161.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 141,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $9,797,000 after buying an additional 87,711 shares during the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 97,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,755,000 after buying an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 352.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,813 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,196,000 after buying an additional 24,788 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.