Jennison Associates LLC Takes $935,000 Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,460 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the second quarter worth $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 142.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the second quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MMSI shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI opened at $105.33 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $98.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.83. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.46 and a 52-week high of $106.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Company Profile

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.