Cresset Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. $MMSI

Cresset Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,238 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,936 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.6% in the first quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,728 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 5.9% in the first quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 15.9% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 4.8% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director David Floyd sold 3,515 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 4,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,500.80. This trade represents a 41.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 10,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.12, for a total value of $951,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,056,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,449,383.36. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,779 shares of company stock valued at $4,662,863 in the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MMSI. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, July 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.00.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $89.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.75. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The company had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 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.