Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,250,000 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the March 31st total of 2,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 708,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 5.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,657 shares in the company, valued at $490,428.67. The trade was a 51.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 38,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,879,803.50. This represents a 39.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,132 shares of company stock valued at $11,139,521 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,728,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,347 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,398 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,632,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 5.9% in the first quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MMSI shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $106.00 price objective on Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barrington Research reduced their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.78.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Merit Medical Systems stock traded up $2.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.66. 656,529 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 501,731. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.51. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Merit Medical Systems has a twelve month low of $76.95 and a twelve month high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.