Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Acquired by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,896 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,648,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $643,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,314 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,076,439 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $200,833,000 after purchasing an additional 499,193 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Merit Medical Systems by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,633,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $157,968,000 after purchasing an additional 36,489 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,535,468 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $148,510,000 after purchasing an additional 118,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 750,936 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $72,631,000 after buying an additional 85,483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $95.83 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 46.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $97.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.47. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.02 and a twelve month high of $111.45.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $2,487,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,879,803.50. The trade was a 39.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 12,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.81, for a total transaction of $1,230,283.31. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,300.81. This represents a 33.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MMSI shares. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.78.

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.