Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $109.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.12% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MMSI. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merit Medical Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James boosted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.70.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of MMSI stock traded up $4.25 on Tuesday, hitting $99.89. 990,169 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 528,446. The firm's 50 day moving average is $101.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.69. Merit Medical Systems has a one year low of $70.70 and a one year high of $108.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 48.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $11,142,000 after purchasing an additional 84,923 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $718,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 221,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $21,910,000 after acquiring an additional 6,837 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $56,921,000 after acquiring an additional 265,648 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.