AMI Asset Management Corp Increases Stock Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

AMI Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,041 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,367 shares during the quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $3,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,142,000 after buying an additional 84,923 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter worth $718,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 3.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 221,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $21,910,000 after purchasing an additional 6,837 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $56,921,000 after purchasing an additional 265,648 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MMSI shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.10.

Insider Activity

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $102.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.15. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.70 and a 1-year high of $108.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.