LPL Financial LLC Buys 8,151 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 14.9%, acquiring an additional 8,151 shares, and now owns approximately 62,743 shares valued at $6.63 million.
• Insider trading activity included Director F. Ann Millner selling 21,250 shares for about $2.05 million, while CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 15,181 shares for approximately $1.42 million, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership positions.
• Merit Medical Systems reported a quarterly EPS of $1.01, beating analysts' expectations, and projected a full-year EPS of 3.37, reflecting a positive growth outlook.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,743 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 8,151 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.11% of Merit Medical Systems worth $6,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 332.7% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $294,000. Finally, Group One Trading LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of MMSI stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.51. The stock had a trading volume of 557,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 641,514. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $89.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $111.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 43.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.31%. The company had revenue of $382.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MMSI. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, July 18th. Barrington Research reaffirmed 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 lowered their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.61, for a total transaction of $38,244.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,045,628 shares in the company, valued at $99,972,493.08. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.16, for a total value of $330,972.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $459,500.80. This trade represents a 41.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,779 shares of company stock worth $6,327,983. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.