StockNews.com Lowers Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) to Hold

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MMSI. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday. Barrington Research boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. CL King assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Merit Medical Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.50.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 243,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 512,739. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.37. Merit Medical Systems has a 12-month low of $62.58 and a 12-month high of $85.62. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 44.83, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 5.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $324.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.66 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 7.51%. The business's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,396,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,960 shares in the company, valued at $2,396,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,637 shares of company stock valued at $5,351,673. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MMSI. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 4.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,098,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $746,777,000 after buying an additional 427,712 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,700,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $378,653,000 after purchasing an additional 377,858 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,895,695 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $268,881,000 after purchasing an additional 520,423 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,151,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $163,461,000 after purchasing an additional 11,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,080,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $174,022,000 after purchasing an additional 45,119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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