Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 69.3% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 103,099 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,116,000 after buying an additional 42,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 26.0% during the third 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 stake in Merit Medical Systems by 161.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 141,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $9,797,000 after buying an additional 87,711 shares during the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 18.0% during the third quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 97,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,755,000 after buying an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 352.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,813 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,196,000 after buying an additional 24,788 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $887,917.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $887,917.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,892,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,637 shares of company stock valued at $3,751,673 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. CL King initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.2 %

MMSI opened at $74.03 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 5.45. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 45.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.89. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.58 and a twelve month high of $85.62.

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

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.