2,071 Shares in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 2,071 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter worth $800,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Merit Medical Systems by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 166,927 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,145,000 after purchasing an additional 74,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 0.9 %

MMSI opened at $104.64 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.70 and a 1-year high of $108.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.15 and a 200-day moving average of $96.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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 company had revenue of $339.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.60 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MMSI. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $2,905,900.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,705.22. This represents a 64.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,289,306.05. The trade was a 27.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems 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.