Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Needham & Company LLC Analyst Says

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $109.00 to $122.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barrington Research lifted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $110.29 on Wednesday. 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 has a one year low of $70.70 and a one year high of $111.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.06, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.60 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 26,665 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,292,000 after buying an additional 64,401 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 36.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,043 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $756,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.