ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 5,308 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 44.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,267 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 5,308 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,648,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $643,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,314 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,633,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $157,968,000 after purchasing an additional 36,489 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,535,468 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $148,510,000 after purchasing an additional 118,142 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 750,936 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $72,631,000 after purchasing an additional 85,483 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMSI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective 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. Barrington Research decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 5,361 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.58, for a total value of $555,292.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,506,739.58. The trade was a 18.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total transaction of $526,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,657 shares in the company, valued at $490,428.67. This trade represents a 51.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 130,382 shares of company stock worth $13,189,508 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $96.49 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $96.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.56. The stock has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 47.30, 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 12 month low of $80.02 and a 12 month high of $111.45.

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

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.

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