Merit Financial Group LLC Cuts Position in ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD)

Merit Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,535 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in ResMed were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in ResMed by 23,982.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 733,556 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $164,207,000 after acquiring an additional 730,510 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in ResMed by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,325,009 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $531,706,000 after acquiring an additional 566,046 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ResMed during the 4th quarter valued at about $118,605,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of ResMed by 813.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 443,340 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $101,387,000 after buying an additional 394,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ResMed by 133.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 625,054 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $142,944,000 after buying an additional 357,466 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ResMed

In related news, CEO Michael J. Farrell sold 8,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.23, for a total value of $1,948,029.07. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 455,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,791,994.69. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Witte Jan De sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $486,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,806 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,586.82. This represents a 25.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,075,837 over the last three months. 0.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RMD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of ResMed from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp set a $274.00 price target on shares of ResMed in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of ResMed from $260.00 to $248.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $265.00 price target on shares of ResMed in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of ResMed from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.33.

ResMed Price Performance

NYSE RMD opened at $251.18 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.78. ResMed Inc. has a 52-week low of $179.42 and a 52-week high of $263.05.

ResMed (NYSE:RMD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. ResMed had a net margin of 25.34% and a return on equity of 26.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ResMed Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ResMed Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. ResMed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.79%.

About ResMed

ResMed Inc develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets medical devices and cloud-based software applications for the healthcare markets. The company operates in two segments, Sleep and Respiratory Care, and Software as a Service. It offers various products and solutions for a range of respiratory disorders, including ApneaLink Air, a portable diagnostic device that measures oximetry, respiratory effort, pulse, nasal flow, and snoring; and NightOwl, a portable, cloud-connected, and disposable diagnostic device that measures AHI based on derived peripheral arterial tone, actigraphy, and oximetry over several nights.