Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Boosts Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) by 74.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,089 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 13,672 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned approximately 0.06% of Merit Medical Systems worth $3,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 139.1% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 655 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 237.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MMSI. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ MMSI traded down $0.06 on Friday, hitting $94.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,278,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 497,926. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.60 and a 200-day moving average of $100.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.67 and a 52-week high of $111.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 12,451 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.81, for a total transaction of $1,230,283.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,391,300.81. The trade was a 33.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total value of $526,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,657 shares in the company, valued at $490,428.67. The trade was a 51.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.