Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $2,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter worth $44,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth $50,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2,666.7% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MMSI. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.82.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $96.00 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.15. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.87. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.13 and a 1 year high of $101.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 6.24 and a quick ratio of 4.64.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $338.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.94 million. As a group, analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current 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.