SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 2,781 Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,781 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,454 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 30,342 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,935,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 224,181 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $21,683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.11.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $92.80 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $94.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.87, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.35 and a 12-month high of $111.45. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.49, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.66.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.54, for a total value of $1,930,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,066,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $102,914,343.12. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 15,181 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.75, for a total transaction of $1,423,218.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,268,843.75. This trade represents a 38.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,596 shares of company stock worth $8,171,433 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is 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.

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