Van ECK Associates Corp Makes New $718,000 Investment in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,526 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,083,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 17,716.1% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 9,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 9,921 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 36.4% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 22,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 5,915 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 1,147.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 7,228 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 838,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $63,543,000 after purchasing an additional 22,077 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI traded up $0.86 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $104.96. The company had a trading volume of 114,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,362. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 51.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.32. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.46 and a twelve month high of $105.46.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMSI shares. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.36.

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.