Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Earns Overweight Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating restated by Wells Fargo & Company in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $108.00 target price on the medical instruments supplier's stock, up from their prior target price of $106.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.55% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MMSI. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.33.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $95.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82. Merit Medical Systems has a 1-year low of $80.02 and a 1-year high of $111.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $96.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.53. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.62, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 12,451 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.81, for a total transaction of $1,230,283.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,391,300.81. This represents a 33.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,803.50. This represents a 39.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 130,382 shares of company stock valued at $13,189,508. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,728,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,347 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,936 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.