StockNews.com Downgrades Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MMSI. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. CL King initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $96.20.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $84.39 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems has a 52 week low of $62.58 and a 52 week high of $87.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.16. The company has a quick ratio of 4.38, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.88.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $1,062,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,753,235. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,235. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total value of $613,875.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,212,935.15. 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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.