XTX Topco Ltd Makes New Investment in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 45.5% in the third quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 7,679 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 218.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 445,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $44,029,000 after purchasing an additional 305,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $220,559,000 after purchasing an additional 15,098 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 20.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,050 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,772,000 after purchasing an additional 4,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 38.1% during the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,826 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 1.9 %

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $102.76 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. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.31 and a 12 month high of $108.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.19. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 50.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.84.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMSI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.09.

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.