Merit Medical Systems’ (MMSI) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $109.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.70.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $102.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Merit Medical Systems has a 12-month low of $70.70 and a 12-month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMSI. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.