Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $107.78.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MMSI. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $3,252,895.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $112,794,868.08. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $2,487,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,879,803.50. This trade represents a 39.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $11,142,000 after acquiring an additional 84,923 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 166,927 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $16,145,000 after purchasing an additional 74,019 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $800,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Down 0.6%

MMSI stock opened at $97.01 on Thursday. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $96.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.51. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $80.02 and a 12 month high of $111.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

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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