Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 3.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 221,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 6,837 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $21,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 147.2% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 634,613 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $54,545,000 after buying an additional 377,851 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter valued at about $21,156,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1,343.5% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 192,109 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,986,000 after purchasing an additional 178,800 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter worth about $12,550,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,860,000. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,705.22. The trade was a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $103.66 on Thursday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.46 and a 12-month high of $106.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.81, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.41. 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 (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $339.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.