Barrington Research Reiterates Outperform Rating for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Key Points

• Barrington Research has reaffirmed an "outperform" rating for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) with a price target of $103.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.40% from the stock's previous close.
• The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.85, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.2%.
• Merit Medical Systems' shares have seen recent activity from institutional investors, with 99.66% of stock owned by such investors, including significant purchases from Maverick Capital and Nuveen LLC.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by equities researchers at Barrington Research in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $103.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier's stock. Barrington Research's price objective points to a potential upside of 23.40% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $107.50.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $83.47. 95,695 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 652,948. Merit Medical Systems has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $111.45. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 42.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 4.09. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $86.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.49.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $382.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $372.47 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total transaction of $265,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,134,365.04. This represents a 18.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,517,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,679,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,697,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 109.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 660,394 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $69,810,000 after buying an additional 345,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,787,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $188,934,000 after buying an additional 251,821 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is 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.

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