Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Lifted to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) was upgraded by analysts at Baird R W to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. CL King assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $112.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $93.10.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 3.0 %

MMSI opened at $85.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 6.03, a quick ratio of 4.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.40, a PEG ratio of 2.33 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.55.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.