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

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

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MMSI. Barrington Research reissued an outperform rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Baird R W raised shares of Merit Medical Systems to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $101.82.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

MMSI opened at $99.56 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a current ratio of 6.24. Merit Medical Systems has a 52 week low of $62.58 and a 52 week high of $101.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 57.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.87.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm had revenue of $338.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.94 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $1,062,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,235. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $795,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,020 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 3,887 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $756,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 36.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,043 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 147,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,678,000 after purchasing an additional 91,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

About Merit Medical Systems

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.