M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 14.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 31,294 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,310 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $3,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 0.3% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,053,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $262,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,512 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,289,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,236,000 after buying an additional 38,780 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $220,559,000 after buying an additional 15,098 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $155,879,000 after acquiring an additional 649,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 8.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 727,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $71,883,000 after acquiring an additional 54,122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % 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 Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $102.76 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.31 and a twelve month high of $108.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.44, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.84. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.05.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MMSI. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.09.

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.