Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $88.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.16% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. CL King started coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of MMSI opened at $72.63 on Thursday. Merit Medical Systems has a 12-month low of $62.58 and a 12-month high of $85.62. The company has a quick ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $75.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.37.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 7.51%. The firm had revenue of $324.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $887,917.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,892,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,637 shares of company stock valued at $5,351,673 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 103,099 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,116,000 after acquiring an additional 42,191 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 607,881 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $41,956,000 after acquiring an additional 125,605 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 87,711 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 18.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 352.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,813 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 24,788 shares in the last quarter. 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.