Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Acquires 14,990 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,140 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 14,990 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.33% of Merit Medical Systems worth $18,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $112,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $120,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MMSI shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the 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 owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $104.73 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.28. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 51.34, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.85. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.70 and a 12 month high of $108.07.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Merit Medical Systems 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.