Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $109.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.70.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 4.4 %

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $99.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $101.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.69. 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 has a 52 week low of $70.70 and a 52 week high of $108.07.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 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 company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter worth about $112,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter worth about $120,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 56.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.