Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 27.3%, acquiring an additional 39,653 shares to total 184,852 shares worth approximately $19.5 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly boosted their holdings in Merit Medical Systems, with Bank of Montreal increasing their stake by 195.9% during the last quarter.
• Merit Medical reported an earnings per share of $1.01 in its latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.16 and reflecting a year-over-year revenue growth of 13.2%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 27.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 39,653 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.31% of Merit Medical Systems worth $19,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at about $80,679,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 9.3% during the first quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 66,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $7,049,000 after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 16.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,787,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $188,934,000 after acquiring an additional 251,821 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 11.3% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,753 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,991,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at about $4,988,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MMSI. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director Michael R. Mcdonnell sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.51, for a total value of $165,392.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,395 shares in the company, valued at $604,391.45. The trade was a 21.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the business'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 transaction of $330,972.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 66,779 shares of company stock valued at $6,327,983 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.3%

MMSI traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $85.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 557,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 641,514. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.41, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $111.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $89.41 and its 200-day moving average is $95.87.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $372.47 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

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.