Short Interest in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Decreases By 16.7%

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,700,000 shares, a decline of 16.7% from the March 15th total of 3,240,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 675,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Approximately 4.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of MMSI traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.54. 440,696 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 493,320. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $72.81 and a 12 month high of $111.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50-day moving average is $98.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.52.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $355.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. Research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,879,803.50. This represents a 39.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total value of $3,252,895.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,028 shares in the company, valued at $112,794,868.08. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $11,142,000 after buying an additional 84,923 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 400.0% during the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 115,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $11,123,000 after purchasing an additional 92,000 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $56,921,000 after buying an additional 265,648 shares during the period. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 33,041 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 7,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Barrington Research lowered their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. 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 research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.33.

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.