Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Price Target to $100.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has reduced its price target for Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock, which indicates a potential upside of 17.02% based on recent market performance.
• Other analysts like Piper Sandler and Raymond James have also lowered their price targets for Merit Medical Systems, with varying ratings such as "outperform" and "buy."
• Merit Medical reported strong earnings for the recent quarter, with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.01, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 13.2% revenue increase year-over-year.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $108.00 to $100.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the medical instruments supplier's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential upside of 17.02% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MMSI. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.00.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock traded up $2.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $85.46. 1,038,354 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 667,679. The stock's fifty day moving average is $91.80 and its 200 day moving average is $97.36. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 41.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.87. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $382.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.47 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.52%. Merit Medical Systems's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.61, for a total transaction of $38,244.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,045,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $99,972,493.08. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 15,181 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.75, for a total transaction of $1,423,218.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,268,843.75. This represents a 38.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,596 shares of company stock valued at $8,171,433. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 55.6% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 375 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,936 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 5,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company's stock.

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.

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