Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Purchased by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,253 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 18.8% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 332.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $84.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.16 and a 200-day moving average of $96.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 4.09. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 42.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $382.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.47 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.61, for a total transaction of $38,244.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,045,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,972,493.08. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.16, for a total transaction of $330,972.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at $459,500.80. The trade was a 41.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,596 shares of company stock worth $8,171,433 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MMSI shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.00.

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.