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

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on MMSI. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. CL King assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.20.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $85.85 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $81.58 and its 200-day moving average is $77.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 4.38 and a current ratio of 6.03. Merit Medical Systems has a 52 week low of $62.58 and a 52 week high of $87.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 15.02%. The company had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $1,062,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,235. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 shares were 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 $1,212,935.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $1,062,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,235. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,174,483 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $164,717,000 after purchasing an additional 22,545 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,306,702 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $99,258,000 after purchasing an additional 41,065 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 17.6% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 880,327 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $66,685,000 after purchasing an additional 131,977 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 838,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $63,543,000 after purchasing an additional 22,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 728,188 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $55,313,000 after purchasing an additional 20,031 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.