Fred Alger Management LLC Purchases 8,008 Shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,914 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,008 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $12,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 305.4% during the 3rd 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. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,398 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,028,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 166,927 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,145,000 after acquiring an additional 74,019 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $96.09 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.47. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.40 and a fifty-two week high of $111.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.11. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $355.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.90, for a total value of $3,087,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,945 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,440.50. This trade represents a 43.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 12,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.81, for a total transaction of $1,230,283.31. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,300.81. This trade represents a 33.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $106.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut 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 report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barrington Research dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.78.

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.