Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Given “Outperform” Rating at Barrington Research

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Barrington Research in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $114.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Barrington Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.07% from the stock’s previous close.

MMSI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.60.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 2.0 %

MMSI stock opened at $98.22 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 48.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.84. 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 has a twelve month low of $70.70 and a twelve month high of $108.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $100.75 and its 200-day moving average is $93.94.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 0.3% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,053,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $262,445,000 after acquiring an additional 10,512 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,289,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,236,000 after purchasing an additional 38,780 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $220,559,000 after purchasing an additional 15,098 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $155,879,000 after buying an additional 649,799 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,357,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,165,000 after buying an additional 17,490 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.