Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives $107.50 Average PT from Analysts

Key Points

• Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from eight brokerages, with an average twelve-month target price of $107.50.
• In recent trading, shares opened at $82.69 and the company reported a quarterly EPS of $1.01, exceeding estimates of $0.85 with revenues of $382.46 million.
• Insider selling occurred when Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares, reducing her stake by 18.98%, highlighting potential caution among insiders regarding the stock's future performance.

Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $107.50.

MMSI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, July 18th.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.56. 1,949,791 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 568,987. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $111.45. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64. The company's 50 day moving average price is $86.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 4.09.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.31%.The firm had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $372.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total transaction of $265,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,134,365.04. This trade represents a 18.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MMSI. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,093 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 332.7% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 35,531 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,437,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,267 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company's stock.

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.