Barrington Research Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Key Points

• Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) received an "outperform" rating from Barrington Research with a target price of $103.00, implying a potential upside of 24.16% from its current stock price.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $1.01, exceeding estimates by 16 cents, and saw a 13.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $382.46 million.
• Insiders have sold a total of 85,596 shares of Merit Medical Systems in the last 90 days, indicating significant insider trading activity.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Barrington Research in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $103.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier's stock. Barrington Research's price target suggests a potential upside of 21.49% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MMSI. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price objective on Merit Medical Systems and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ MMSI traded down $0.08 on Thursday, reaching $84.78. 699,324 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 841,731. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $91.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.66. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.47 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.16, for a total value of $330,972.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $459,500.80. This trade represents a 41.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 15,181 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.75, for a total transaction of $1,423,218.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 24,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,268,843.75. This represents a 38.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,596 shares of company stock worth $8,171,433 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $134,517,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $80,679,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $66,638,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,926,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Company Profile

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.