Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $105.82 and last traded at $105.75, with a volume of 7765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MMSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.41 and a 200 day moving average of $90.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.89.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems 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 directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was 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.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 36.4% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 5,915 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $718,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1,147.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 7,228 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,535 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,719,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.