Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,769 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,449 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $8,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 125.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 5,271 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter worth about $337,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 19.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 129,024 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,510,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MMSI. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.09.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $104.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 51.35, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $100.23 and its 200 day moving average is $93.05. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.30 and a fifty-two week high of $108.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 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.