Merit Medical Systems, Inc. $MMSI Shares Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 0.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $2,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 12,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,225 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $182,000. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 93,966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,784,000 after acquiring an additional 23,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,159 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,285,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total transaction of $265,680.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,809 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,365.04. This trade represents a 18.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $78.99 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.12 and a fifty-two week high of $111.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 4.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.10, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.31%.The firm had revenue of $382.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.50.

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.