Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Price Target Cut to $112.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) had its price objective cut by analysts at Piper Sandler from $116.00 to $112.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.31% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MMSI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $128.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.89.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $94.67 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.52. Merit Medical Systems has a one year low of $72.81 and a one year high of $111.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 46.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total transaction of $526,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $490,428.67. This represents a 51.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $3,252,895.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,028 shares in the company, valued at $112,794,868.08. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merit Medical Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,142,000 after buying an additional 84,923 shares in the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 115,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,123,000 after buying an additional 92,000 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $56,921,000 after acquiring an additional 265,648 shares during the period. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 33,041 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 7,367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

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.