Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with eight out of nine firms recommending a buy.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.01, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 13.2% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Shares of Merit Medical Systems are currently trading at $78.99, having seen a decrease of 4.2% recently, with a 52-week range between $78.12 and $111.45.

Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $107.50.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MMSI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, July 18th.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 4.2%

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $78.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 4.09. The company has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.58. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $85.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.76. Merit Medical Systems has a one year low of $78.12 and a one year high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.47 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total value of $265,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,809 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,365.04. This trade represents a 18.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 1,435.0% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 307 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 55.6% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 375 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 367 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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