Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,989 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 103,099 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,116,000 after purchasing an additional 42,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 607,881 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $41,956,000 after buying an additional 125,605 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 161.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 141,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,797,000 after buying an additional 87,711 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 97,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,755,000 after acquiring an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 352.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,813 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 24,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total transaction of $1,380,476.71. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,109.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total transaction of $1,380,476.71. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,109.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,892,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,195,436.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,637 shares of company stock valued at $3,751,673. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $79.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,565. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 4.38 and a current ratio of 6.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.43. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $62.58 and a one year high of $85.62. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.57 million. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MMSI shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Barrington Research increased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.78.

Merit Medical Systems 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.