Aigen Investment Management LP Invests $264,000 in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,732 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MMSI. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,577,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $155,879,000 after buying an additional 649,799 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $36,057,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 218.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 445,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $44,029,000 after buying an additional 305,800 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 575,946 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $56,921,000 after buying an additional 265,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $25,004,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other news, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.31, for a total transaction of $526,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,657 shares in the company, valued at $490,428.67. This trade represents a 51.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total value of $3,252,895.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,794,868.08. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $128.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $122.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barrington Research dropped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.78.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of MMSI opened at $99.95 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.70 and a 1 year high of $111.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 3.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.35 and a 200-day moving average of $100.43.

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.