Merit Medical Systems, Inc. $MMSI Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. drastically reduced its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 60%, now holding 100,000 shares valued at approximately $10.57 million.
• Several analysts maintain a positive outlook on Merit Medical, with an average target price of $107 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Recent insider trading includes CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos selling 400 shares, reducing his ownership, while CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold over 15,000 shares, indicating notable insider activity.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. decreased its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 60.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 150,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.17% of Merit Medical Systems worth $10,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 31.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 18.8% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 332.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 15.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 260,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $27,493,000 after acquiring an additional 34,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 119.8% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 367 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMSI shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI stock traded down $2.81 on Friday, reaching $87.41. 91,491 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 639,749. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 4.09. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $111.45.

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

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total transaction of $265,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,134,365.04. The trade was a 18.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.