Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Makes New $247,000 Investment in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,555 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MMSI. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,289,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,236,000 after acquiring an additional 38,780 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $220,559,000 after purchasing an additional 15,098 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $155,879,000 after purchasing an additional 649,799 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,357,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,165,000 after purchasing an additional 17,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 727,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 54,122 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted 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. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.10.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

MMSI opened at $104.73 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.28. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.70 and a fifty-two week high of $108.07. The company has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

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.