Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,259 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2,666.7% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $1,062,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,753,235. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $613,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,212,935.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $1,062,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,753,235. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 0.7 %

Merit Medical Systems stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $96.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 472,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,131. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $62.58 and a one year high of $96.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 55.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.05 and a 200-day moving average of $81.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 4.38 and a current ratio of 6.03.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $338.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.94 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Baird R W upgraded Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.20.

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.