Needham & Company LLC Boosts Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Price Target to $93.00

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) had its target price boosted by Needham & Company LLC from $85.00 to $93.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barrington Research raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an outperform rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $112.00 to $102.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $96.20.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $85.85 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.34, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.91. The company has a quick ratio of 4.38, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Merit Medical Systems has a twelve month low of $62.58 and a twelve month high of $87.44.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 15.02%. The company had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $1,062,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,235. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $613,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at $1,212,935.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $1,062,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,235. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 26,617 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,837,000 after buying an additional 3,604 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $253,000. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,453,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 5.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 624,421 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $43,100,000 after buying an additional 31,204 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 103,099 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,116,000 after acquiring an additional 42,191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.