Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,707 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.8% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Significant Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 17.5% during the first quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,727 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 5.9% during the first quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% during the first quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 117,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 22.3% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MMSI shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial dropped 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. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $112.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.11.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 21,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.47, for a total transaction of $2,049,987.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,543 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,363.21. This represents a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 15,181 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.75, for a total transaction of $1,423,218.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,268,843.75. This trade represents a 38.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,596 shares of company stock valued at $8,171,433. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI opened at $83.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.06. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 40.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.65. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.62 and a 52-week high of $111.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 4.87.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS 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.