GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,494 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,142,000 after buying an additional 84,923 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $718,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 221,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $21,910,000 after acquiring an additional 6,837 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $56,921,000 after purchasing an additional 265,648 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MMSI. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price 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, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 2.4 %

MMSI stock opened at $98.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 48.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.85. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.70 and a 52 week high of $108.07. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.12 and a 200 day moving average of $95.24.

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

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.