Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $109.80.

MMSI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $116.00 target price (up previously from $114.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,142,000 after purchasing an additional 84,923 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $718,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 221,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,910,000 after acquiring an additional 6,837 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $56,921,000 after acquiring an additional 265,648 shares during the period. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 33,041 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 7,367 shares during the period. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $109.92 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $101.99 and its 200 day moving average is $98.23. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 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 $111.45. The stock has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 53.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.87.

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.