13,895 Merit Medical Systems, Inc. $MMSI Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its Merit Medical Systems stake by 91.8% in the third quarter, selling 13,895 shares and retaining 1,246 shares valued at approximately $107,000. Institutional investors collectively own 99.66% of MMSI.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with eight Buy ratings and five Hold ratings producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $105.55.
• Merit Medical exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.12 in EPS versus the $1.04 consensus and revenue of $416.24 million, up 8.4% year over year. The stock opened at $84.31, compared with a 12-month range of $59.74 to $94.85.

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 91.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 13,895 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MMSI. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 17,931 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.0% in the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 88.6% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 694 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 9.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 44.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 890 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $94.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barrington Research set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.55.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $84.31 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.79, a current ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.74 and a twelve month high of $94.85. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $88.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.51.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $416.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.56 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 13.75% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Merit Medical Systems Profile

Merit Medical Systems, Inc is a medical device company that develops, manufactures and distributes disposable products used in interventional, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Its devices are designed for use by healthcare professionals in hospitals, outpatient facilities and other clinical settings.

The company's product portfolio includes devices for vascular access, angiography, intervention, drainage, embolization, oncology and cardiac procedures. Merit also offers products used in peripheral intervention, spine procedures and other specialized areas of minimally invasive medicine, including kits, accessories and related procedural equipment.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in South Jordan, Utah, Merit Medical serves healthcare providers through a global commercial and manufacturing network.

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