State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Has $2.01 Million Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lowered its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 4,912 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 74.2% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 32,089 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,103,000 after purchasing an additional 13,672 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 21,021 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,033,000 after buying an additional 3,331 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 113,438 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $10,972,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 34,585 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,345,000 after buying an additional 1,557 shares during the period. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $5,874,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target 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. Barrington Research cut their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James cut their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $106.00 target price on Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total transaction of $526,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $490,428.67. This trade represents a 51.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total value of $3,252,895.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $112,794,868.08. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,132 shares of company stock valued at $11,139,521 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.66. The stock had a trading volume of 656,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,731. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.89, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.95 and a 12 month high of $111.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $97.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.51. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. Merit Medical Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.