Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Bought by Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 45.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,192 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 3,513 shares during the quarter. Merit Medical Systems makes up 0.8% of Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 63,314 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,076,439 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $200,833,000 after purchasing an additional 499,193 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,633,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $157,968,000 after purchasing an additional 36,489 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 938,210 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $90,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MMSI. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of 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 cut 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. Finally, Barrington Research cut 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 research report on Friday, April 25th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 21,250 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.47, for a total value of $2,049,987.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,332,363.21. The trade was a 38.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 12,451 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.81, for a total transaction of $1,230,283.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,300.81. The trade was a 33.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,382 shares of company stock worth $13,189,508 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MMSI stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 401,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $96.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.51. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.02 and a 1-year high of $111.45.

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

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.