Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,097,156 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 16,894 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 1.88% of Merit Medical Systems worth $108,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MMSI. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,797 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 5.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 62,343 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,724,000 after buying an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 10.3% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1,147.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 7,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 838,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $63,543,000 after acquiring an additional 22,077 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $105.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.99. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.46 and a twelve month high of $106.87.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted 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. The firm 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%. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MMSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.36.

About Merit Medical Systems

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.