Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MMSI. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Merit Medical Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday. They set an outperform rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $93.90.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

MMSI opened at $85.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.75. The company has a current ratio of 6.03, a quick ratio of 4.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.88. Merit Medical Systems has a 12-month low of $62.58 and a 12-month high of $86.44.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $323.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Neil Peterson sold 7,500 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,212,935.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. 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.