Aberdeen Group plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. $MMSI

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 572,211 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 30,015 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $53,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.4% during the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 55.6% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 375 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,936 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 3.1% during the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% during the second quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 5,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director Lynne N. Ward sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.56, for a total value of $265,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,809 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,365.04. This represents a 18.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

MMSI opened at $78.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.10, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.58. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.12 and a 1-year high of $111.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MMSI shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.50.

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.