Allianz Asset Management GmbH Makes New Investment in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management has acquired 11,144 shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc., valued at approximately $1,178,000, signaling increased institutional interest in the medical instruments supplier.
• Analysts have issued a "Moderate Buy" rating on Merit Medical Systems, with an average target price of $107.00, while notable funds like FMR LLC increased their stake by 31.6% in the last quarter.
• Merit Medical reported a net margin of 8.31% and revenue growth of 13.2% year-over-year, with Q2 earnings exceeding analysts' expectations as the company posted an EPS of $1.01 against a consensus estimate of $0.85.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $1,178,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 31.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 332.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at $294,000. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.8%

MMSI stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Monday, hitting $85.45. 93,006 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 669,173. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.66. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $111.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $91.39 and a 200-day moving average of $97.12. 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 (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $372.47 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.31%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. Analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.16, for a total transaction of $330,972.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at $459,500.80. This represents a 41.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.61, for a total value of $38,244.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,045,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $99,972,493.08. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,596 shares of company stock valued at $8,171,433 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MMSI shares. Raymond James Financial lowered 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.00.

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.