Fred Alger Management LLC Increases Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,914 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 8,008 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 0.22% of Merit Medical Systems worth $12,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 139.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $106.00 price target on Merit Medical Systems and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.78.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Down 0.3%

MMSI traded down $0.26 on Friday, reaching $95.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 694,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,801. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.02 and a fifty-two week high of $111.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.54. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $355.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total value of $3,252,895.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $112,794,868.08. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total value of $526,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $490,428.67. The trade was a 51.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,132 shares of company stock valued at $11,139,521. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Merit Medical Systems

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.