Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $5.85 Million Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,572 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $5,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.9% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 5.9% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,991 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 19.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,426 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 32.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MMSI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $1,269,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,289,306.05. This represents a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raul Jr. Parra sold 29,646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MMSI opened at $105.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $98.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.65. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.46 and a 1 year high of $106.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.89.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

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.