Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Price Target Lowered to $102.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) had its price target decreased by Canaccord Genuity Group from $112.00 to $102.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MMSI. Raymond James raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barrington Research raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Merit Medical Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $92.78.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $76.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 5.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.04, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.91. Merit Medical Systems has a fifty-two week low of $62.58 and a fifty-two week high of $85.62.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $323.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 7.94%. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $887,917.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Merit Medical Systems news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 6,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $887,917.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,892,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,637 shares of company stock worth $3,751,673 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 55.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,953 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,011,000 after acquiring an additional 18,863 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth about $336,000. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter worth about $293,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 326,146 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,706,000 after acquiring an additional 14,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,174,483 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $164,717,000 after acquiring an additional 22,545 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.