Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,480 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.16% of Merit Medical Systems worth $7,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 2.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 838,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $63,543,000 after purchasing an additional 22,077 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 1,147.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 7,228 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 880,327 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $66,685,000 after buying an additional 131,977 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 10.3% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 2,666.7% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 913 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Merit Medical Systems Stock Up 1.2 %

MMSI stock traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $86.65. The company had a trading volume of 14,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,092. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 4.38 and a current ratio of 6.03. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.88. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.58 and a fifty-two week high of $88.85.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $323.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. CL King started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Two 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.20.

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.