Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Purchases 13,672 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 74.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,089 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 13,672 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned approximately 0.06% of Merit Medical Systems worth $3,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $11,142,000 after buying an additional 84,923 shares during the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 115,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $11,123,000 after purchasing an additional 92,000 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $56,921,000 after buying an additional 265,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 33,041 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 7,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMSI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $106.00 price objective on Merit Medical Systems and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $3,252,895.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now owns 4,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $490,428.67. The trade was a 51.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ MMSI traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $95.68. 93,491 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 498,004. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.88, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.61. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.67 and a 1-year high of $111.45.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $355.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. Merit Medical Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merit Medical Systems 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.