Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MMSI. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, CL King began coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $73.38 on Wednesday. Merit Medical Systems has a 1-year low of $62.58 and a 1-year high of $85.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.63 and its 200-day moving average is $73.68. The company has a current ratio of 5.45, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 7.51%. The company had revenue of $324.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $887,917.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $887,917.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,892,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,637 shares of company stock worth $3,751,673 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MMSI. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $67,000. 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.