State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,313 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,681 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $2,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth $50,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter worth $59,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2,666.7% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of MMSI opened at $101.20 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.62. The firm has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 49.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.46 and a 12-month high of $105.46. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

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.