Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Stock

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Raymond James from $105.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Raymond James’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.73% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MMSI. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.70.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $96.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 47.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.84. Merit Medical Systems has a 52-week low of $70.70 and a 52-week high of $108.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.69. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other 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 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 approximately $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $1,269,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,289,306.05. This trade represents a 27.85 % 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 0.3% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,053,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $262,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,512 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,289,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $226,236,000 after acquiring an additional 38,780 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,231,701 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $220,559,000 after purchasing an additional 15,098 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $155,879,000 after purchasing an additional 649,799 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,357,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $134,165,000 after purchasing an additional 17,490 shares during the period. 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.