Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) Position Decreased by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 221,205 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 16,007 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.38% of Merit Medical Systems worth $16,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $112.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barrington Research raised their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total transaction of $1,380,476.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,109.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,892,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total value of $1,380,476.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,109.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,637 shares of company stock worth $3,751,673 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Up 2.5 %

Merit Medical Systems stock opened at $78.97 on Monday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.58 and a 52 week high of $85.62. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 45.39, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.21.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $323.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share 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.