GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 205,592 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 13,761.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 207,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 205,592 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Merit Medical Systems worth $21,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,648,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $643,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,314 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,076,439 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $200,833,000 after purchasing an additional 499,193 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,633,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $157,968,000 after acquiring an additional 36,489 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,535,468 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $148,510,000 after buying an additional 118,142 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 938,210 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $90,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMSI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James cut their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price objective on Merit Medical Systems and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.11.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI traded down $0.44 on Monday, reaching $94.84. 367,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 528,753. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $94.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.89. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.02 and a 52 week high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Merit Medical Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 21,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.47, for a total transaction of $2,049,987.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,332,363.21. This represents a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.16, for a total value of $330,972.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,880 shares in the company, valued at $459,500.80. The trade was a 41.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,015 shares of company stock worth $6,709,970. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.