Crestline Management LP Purchases Shares of 4,691 Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 4,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,728,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,347 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Merit Medical Systems by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Merit Medical Systems by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,809 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Merit Medical Systems Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MMSI stock opened at $95.83 on Friday. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.02 and a fifty-two week high of $111.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 5.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.51. The company has a market cap 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 (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, CEO Fred P. Lampropoulos sold 31,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,794,868.08. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian G. Lloyd sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.90, for a total value of $3,087,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,440.50. This trade represents a 43.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,132 shares of company stock valued at $11,139,521. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MMSI. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $127.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Barrington Research reduced 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 research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merit Medical Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.78.

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.