Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Given Overweight Rating at Piper Sandler

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reiterated by research analysts at Piper Sandler in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $116.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier's stock, up from their prior price target of $114.00. Piper Sandler's price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.18% from the stock's previous close.

MMSI has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merit Medical Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Merit Medical Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.80.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 1.7 %

MMSI traded up $1.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $110.29. 514,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 543,336. 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 capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 54.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $101.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.04. Merit Medical Systems has a 1 year low of $70.70 and a 1 year high of $111.27.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value 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 $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $226,236,000 after purchasing an additional 38,780 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $220,559,000 after purchasing an additional 15,098 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $155,879,000 after acquiring an additional 649,799 shares during the period. 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 valued at $134,165,000 after buying an additional 17,490 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 727,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $71,883,000 after purchasing 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.