Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 38,678 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 80.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 38,678 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 142.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 125.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 5,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MMSI. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Three 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $103.90 on Monday. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $99.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.78. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.46 and a 1-year high of $106.87. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 50.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 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, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.