Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Stock

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $110.00 to $114.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. 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 research report on Tuesday, December 31st. StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.10.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI opened at $103.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 50.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. Merit Medical Systems has a 1-year low of $70.70 and a 1-year high of $108.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $101.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.34.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,705.22. This trade represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % 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

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the second quarter valued at $112,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the third quarter worth $120,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 56.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.