Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $116.00 target price on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their prior target price of $114.00.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MMSI. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Raymond James lifted 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. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of MMSI opened at $108.48 on Wednesday. Merit Medical Systems has a 12-month low of $70.70 and a 12-month high of $110.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $101.27 and its 200-day moving average is $96.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82.

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

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth about $120,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during 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.