Bridgewater Associates LP Decreases Stock Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,635 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 2,952 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,648,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $643,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,314 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,076,439 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $200,833,000 after buying an additional 499,193 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,535,468 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $148,510,000 after acquiring an additional 118,142 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 748,561 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $72,401,000 after acquiring an additional 21,221 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth $66,638,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total value of $526,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,657 shares in the company, valued at $490,428.67. This represents a 51.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total value of $2,487,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,879,803.50. This represents a 39.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,132 shares of company stock valued at $11,139,521 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MMSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $111.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $113.89.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:MMSI traded up $2.31 on Wednesday, hitting $93.76. The stock had a trading volume of 756,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 488,408. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.81 and a 1 year high of $111.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $99.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.57. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85.

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.