iSAM Funds UK Ltd Takes $424,000 Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,379 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Merit Medical Systems by 139.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 655 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 237.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $106.00 price target on Merit Medical Systems and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Merit Medical Systems from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.67.

Merit Medical Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MMSI opened at $98.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.70. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.02 and a twelve month high of $111.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.58.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $355.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merit Medical Systems

In related news, Director Stephen C. Evans sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 51.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director F. Ann Millner sold 21,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.47, for a total value of $2,049,987.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,543 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,363.21. This represents a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,382 shares of company stock worth $13,189,508 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.