Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.60.

A number of analysts have commented on MMSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their position. 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $77,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth about $86,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter worth about $112,000. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $98.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.84. Merit Medical Systems has a one year low of $70.70 and a one year high of $108.07. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $100.75 and its 200 day moving average is $93.94.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

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.