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

Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $92.78.

Several research firms recently issued reports on MMSI. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. CL King assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

MMSI stock opened at $78.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 3.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.19 and its 200-day moving average is $74.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 45.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.91. Merit Medical Systems has a 1 year low of $62.58 and a 1 year high of $85.62.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,892,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,892,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,223 shares in the company, valued at $3,195,436.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,637 shares of company stock valued at $3,751,673. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.