Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc Invests $312,000 in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,950 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,648,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $643,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,314 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $200,833,000 after acquiring an additional 499,193 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $157,968,000 after acquiring an additional 36,489 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $148,510,000 after acquiring an additional 118,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 938,210 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $90,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,932 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price objective on Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.11.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MMSI stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.50. 1,254,102 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 539,557. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.62 and a fifty-two week high of $111.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.82. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.83, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 21,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.47, for a total transaction of $2,049,987.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,543 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,363.21. This represents a 38.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 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 85,596 shares of company stock worth $8,171,433 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.