Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

MMSI has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. They set a neutral rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Barrington Research boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $92.50.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $71.96 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems has a fifty-two week low of $62.58 and a fifty-two week high of $85.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 5.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.65 and its 200 day moving average is $73.47.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $324.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $320.66 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 20,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total transaction of $1,380,476.71. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,109.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,396,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,637 shares of company stock valued at $5,351,673. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.