Sowell Financial Services LLC Acquires Shares of 4,108 Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,108 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 332.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,926,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 78,171 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $7,561,000 after purchasing an additional 19,001 shares during the period. Finally, Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.16, for a total value of $330,972.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,880 shares in the company, valued at $459,500.80. This trade represents a 41.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.54, for a total transaction 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 approximately $102,914,343.12. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,596 shares of company stock worth $8,171,433 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI traded up $0.94 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.26. 580,444 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 535,083. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.72, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $94.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.04. 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 $82.04 and a 12-month high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 8.81%. The company had revenue of $355.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.57 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Merit Medical Systems's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MMSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.11.

Merit Medical Systems Company 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.