Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Reduces Stock Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,097,156 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 16,894 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $108,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 142.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 99.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MMSI shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.36.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $105.33 on Monday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.46 and a 52 week high of $106.87. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.59 and a 200-day moving average of $90.99.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal 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.