BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 124,576 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 310.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,724 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,576 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.28% of Merit Medical Systems worth $16,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $155,879,000 after acquiring an additional 649,799 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 147.2% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 634,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $54,545,000 after purchasing an additional 377,851 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $21,156,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 1,343.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 192,109 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $18,986,000 after buying an additional 178,800 shares during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $12,550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MMSI shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $103.90 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.46 and a twelve month high of $106.87. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.72. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.