Polar Capital Holdings Plc Sells 30,068 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Polar Capital Holdings Plc trimmed its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 382,697 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 30,068 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc owned about 0.66% of Merit Medical Systems worth $37,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $11,142,000 after purchasing an additional 84,923 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 79.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 166,927 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $16,145,000 after buying an additional 74,019 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth $800,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $2,487,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,803.50. This represents a 39.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 21,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.47, for a total value of $2,049,987.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,332,363.21. The trade was a 38.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,382 shares of company stock valued at $13,189,508 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $106.00 price target on Merit Medical Systems and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.67.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:MMSI traded up $0.43 on Tuesday, hitting $98.53. The stock had a trading volume of 82,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,362. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The stock has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.02 and a 1 year high of $111.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $96.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.60.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $355.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

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.