Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 413.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,291 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 59,829 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.13% of Merit Medical Systems worth $7,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,648,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $643,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,314 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,076,439 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $200,833,000 after acquiring an additional 499,193 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,535,468 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $148,510,000 after acquiring an additional 118,142 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 748,561 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $72,401,000 after acquiring an additional 21,221 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $66,638,000. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.
Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.9 %
MMSI traded up $0.83 on Monday, hitting $95.44. 911,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 499,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The stock's fifty day moving average is $98.38 and its 200-day moving average is $100.61. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 46.78, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.67 and a 12 month high of $111.45.
Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $355.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems
In other news, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,803.50. The trade was a 39.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 1,086,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $112,794,868.08. This represents 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 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have commented on MMSI. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC decreased 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 report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.00.
Read Our Latest Report on Merit Medical Systems
About Merit Medical Systems
(
Free Report)
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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