Citigroup Inc. Boosts Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,656 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 30,988 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Merit Medical Systems worth $7,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,512 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $226,236,000 after purchasing an additional 38,780 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 727,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 54,122 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 147.2% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 634,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $54,545,000 after purchasing an additional 377,851 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 589,976 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $58,307,000 after purchasing an additional 15,534 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMSI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Merit Medical Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MMSI stock traded up $0.24 on Friday, reaching $103.90. 148,808 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 418,033. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.46 and a twelve month high of $106.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.93, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $99.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.72.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $339.85 million during 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.