Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $108.68 and last traded at $107.93, with a volume of 118060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MMSI shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $116.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barrington Research increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.06, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $101.36 and its 200-day moving average is $97.04.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% during the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,289,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $226,236,000 after buying an additional 38,780 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $220,559,000 after buying an additional 15,098 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $155,879,000 after buying an additional 649,799 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,357,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,165,000 after buying an additional 17,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 8.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 727,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $71,883,000 after buying an additional 54,122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.