Capital Fund Management S.A. Makes New Investment in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. $MMSI

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired 22,801 shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc., valued at approximately $2.41 million, during the 1st quarter.
• CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos and CFO Raul Jr. Parra recently sold a significant number of shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions in the company.
• Merit Medical Systems reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.01, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $382.46 million, a 13.2% increase from the previous year.

Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 22,801 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $2,410,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1,435.0% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 307 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1,518.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 437 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $90.54. 366,258 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 478,851. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.66. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $111.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.37.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.61, for a total transaction of $38,244.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,045,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $99,972,493.08. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 15,181 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.75, for a total value of $1,423,218.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 24,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,268,843.75. The trade was a 38.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,514 shares of company stock worth $2,264,465 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price target on Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.00.

About Merit Medical Systems

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.