Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $127.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Merit Medical Systems traded as high as $107.00 and last traded at $107.00, with a volume of 628 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $104.40.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.88.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

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.