Barrington Research Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Barrington Research in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $100.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Barrington Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.29% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. CL King started coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $96.20.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock traded up $1.10 on Tuesday, reaching $86.74. 208,414 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 448,882. Merit Medical Systems has a one year low of $62.58 and a one year high of $87.44. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.93, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 6.03, a quick ratio of 4.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.85 and a 200 day moving average of $77.75.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. The company had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $613,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,212,935.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $1,062,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,235. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total value of $613,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,935.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4,411.3% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 518,485 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,275,000 after purchasing an additional 506,992 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $38,165,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 818.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 278,452 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,151,000 after purchasing an additional 248,140 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,022,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 17.6% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 880,327 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $66,685,000 after buying an additional 131,977 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by 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.