Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $108.68 and last traded at $107.93, with a volume of 118060 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $105.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research lifted their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $116.00 target price (up previously from $114.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $101.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.04. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,728,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,398 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 28,637 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,830,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.