Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300,264 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 17,376 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.52% of Merit Medical Systems worth $29,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth $44,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at $59,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 142.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MMSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $104.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.32. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.46 and a 12-month high of $105.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.10, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89.

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