Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Acquires 14,990 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 195,140 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,990 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $18,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMSI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.10.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

MMSI stock opened at $104.73 on Thursday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.70 and a 52 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.28. The company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 51.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, 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.