Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MMSI. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barrington Research raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $112.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, CL King assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.10.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $85.95 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.55. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. Merit Medical Systems has a 12-month low of $62.58 and a 12-month high of $86.44. The company has a quick ratio of 4.38, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $613,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,212,935.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 161.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 141,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,797,000 after buying an additional 87,711 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 607,881 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $41,956,000 after buying an additional 125,605 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 352.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,813 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after buying an additional 24,788 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 719,716 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $49,675,000 after buying an additional 11,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 15,982 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 10,088 shares during the last quarter. 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.