Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 52.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 20,625 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1,518.5% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 437 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 139.1% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 655 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Group One Trading LLC purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 1,066,028 shares in the company, valued at $102,914,343.12. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 21,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.47, for a total value of $2,049,987.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,363.21. This trade represents a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 85,596 shares of company stock worth $8,171,433. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of MMSI traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $93.45. The company had a trading volume of 406,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,503. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.65. 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 one year low of $82.62 and a one year high of $111.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $94.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.36.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MMSI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 target price on Merit Medical Systems and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.