Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $2.90 Million Holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 2.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $2,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,638,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,926,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,076,439 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $200,833,000 after buying an additional 499,193 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,688,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Merit Medical Systems by 3,197.9% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 342,912 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $33,166,000 after acquiring an additional 332,514 shares in the last quarter. 99.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MMSI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barrington Research decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.11.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $93.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 45.83, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.65. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.62 and a 1 year high of $111.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.87, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.39.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.57 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 8.81%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael R. Mcdonnell sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.51, for a total transaction of $165,392.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,395 shares in the company, valued at $604,391.45. This represents a 21.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.54, for a total transaction of $1,930,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,066,028 shares in the company, valued at $102,914,343.12. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 85,596 shares of company stock worth $8,171,433. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.