Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $48.93 Million Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 505,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $48,926,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MMSI. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter worth $120,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 237.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMSI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $128.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $122.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $116.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merit Medical Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.90, for a total transaction of $3,087,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,440.50. This trade represents a 43.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 12,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.81, for a total value of $1,230,283.31. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,300.81. This trade represents a 33.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 109,132 shares of company stock valued at $11,139,521. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI opened at $98.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $70.70 and a one year high of $111.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $103.39 and its 200-day moving average is $100.56.

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.