Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 71.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,656 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,988 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $7,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 147.2% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 634,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $54,545,000 after purchasing an additional 377,851 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $21,156,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1,343.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 192,109 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $18,986,000 after buying an additional 178,800 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the second quarter worth $12,550,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth $11,860,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems 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 sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.2 %

MMSI opened at $103.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.93, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.72. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.46 and a 52 week high of $106.87. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Merit Medical Systems 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.