Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

MMSI has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. They issued a neutral rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an outperform rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $74.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.70, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.76 and its 200 day moving average is $73.69. The company has a quick ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Merit Medical Systems has a 52-week low of $62.58 and a 52-week high of $85.62.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $324.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.66 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 14.63%. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total transaction of $1,380,476.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,257 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,109.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $887,917.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total transaction of $1,380,476.71. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,109.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,637 shares of company stock worth $3,751,673 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMSI. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter valued at $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.