Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 28,382 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 50,422 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 28,382 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Merit Medical Systems worth $4,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 139.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 655 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 237.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity 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 transaction, the director now owns 34,543 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $3,252,895.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,028 shares in the company, valued at $112,794,868.08. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 150,382 shares of company stock worth $15,120,308 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Merit Medical Systems stock traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $94.82. 346,984 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 522,467. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. 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 twelve month low of $80.02 and a twelve month high of $111.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.36.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MMSI. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barrington Research decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.11.

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.