Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Holdings Reduced by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,424 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,158 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter valued at about $718,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1,147.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 7,228 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% in the 1st 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. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,535 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,719,000 after acquiring an additional 6,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 129,024 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,090,000 after buying an additional 3,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMSI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $103.66 on Thursday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.46 and a 52-week high of $106.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.91 and a 200-day moving average of $91.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The stock has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 50.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.89.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.