Insider Selling: Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Director Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Lynne Ward, Director of Merit Medical Systems, sold 3,000 shares at an average price of $88.56, decreasing her ownership by 18.98% and leaving her with 12,809 shares.
• The company's stock, MMSI, traded down 1.2% to $88.375, with a market capitalization of $5.23 billion and an increasing revenue of 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year.
• Analysts have a Moderate Buy rating on MMSI, with an average price target of $107.00, but several firms have recently lowered their price objectives.

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total transaction of $265,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,365.04. The trade was a 18.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.5%

Merit Medical Systems stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $90.54. 366,258 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 478,851. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $111.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.96, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average is $88.41 and its 200-day moving average is $94.46.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMSI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price target on Merit Medical Systems and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew 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 worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 260,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $27,493,000 after acquiring an additional 34,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $294,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.