28,900 Shares in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 28,900 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $2,195,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Merit Medical Systems as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $746,777,000 after purchasing an additional 427,712 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 6.0% during the third 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 period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 15.4% in 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 stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,080,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $174,022,000 after purchasing an additional 45,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. CL King initiated coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Merit Medical Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.50.

Insider Activity

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total value of $1,380,476.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,109.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,637 shares of company stock worth $5,351,673 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ MMSI traded down $0.52 on Thursday, hitting $70.99. The stock had a trading volume of 269,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 500,245. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.58 and a 52-week high of $85.62. The business's fifty day moving average price is $75.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 5.45 and a quick ratio of 3.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.89.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $324.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.66 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 7.51%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.