Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,896 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 315,324 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $30,498,000 after purchasing an additional 11,335 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $283,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 211,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $20,456,000 after acquiring an additional 8,987 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $199,000. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI opened at $95.83 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 46.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.02 and a 1-year high of $111.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $97.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.47.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. Merit Medical Systems had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MMSI. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.78.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total value of $3,252,895.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,794,868.08. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $2,487,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,803.50. The trade was a 39.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 109,132 shares of company stock worth $11,139,521. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.