Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 74,019 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 79.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 166,927 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,019 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $16,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.70.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $102.90 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.70 and a 52 week high of $108.07. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $101.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.89. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share 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.