Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Reaches New 1-Year High at $87.44

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $87.44 and last traded at $87.01, with a volume of 237805 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $85.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. CL King assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Baird R W upgraded Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.20.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

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 has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.42.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $323.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $613,875.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,212,935.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $1,062,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,753,235. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total value of $613,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,212,935.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 125.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 5,271 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $245,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 142.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.