Ethic Inc. Has $380,000 Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. $MMSI

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,059 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 847 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 55.6% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 375 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 145 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 5,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total transaction of $265,680.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,365.04. This trade represents a 18.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MMSI. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.50.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $81.39 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.30. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.12 and a 12-month high of $111.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.31%.The firm had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.47 million. During the same period last 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share 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.