Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Earns Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Piper Sandler in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $116.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $114.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.18% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MMSI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $110.29 on Wednesday. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $70.70 and a 12 month high of $111.27. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 54.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.04.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $120,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.