Stock analysts at Bank of America Corporation assumed coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) in a report issued on Thursday, July 20th, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Bank of America Corporation’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.14% from the stock’s current price.
Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Sidoti reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (up from $41.00) on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. BidaskClub raised Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. Piper Jaffray Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Monday, June 26th. Zacks Investment Research raised Merit Medical Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 22nd. Finally, SunTrust Banks, Inc. initiated coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.74.
Shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) opened at 41.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.62 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.84. Merit Medical Systems has a 12-month low of $20.70 and a 12-month high of $42.60.
Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $186.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.46 million. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems will post $1.26 EPS for the current year.
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In related news, Director Kent W. Stanger sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.22, for a total value of $312,428.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Franklin J. Miller sold 16,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.95, for a total value of $546,255.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $927,989.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 147,450 shares of company stock worth $5,607,192. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in Merit Medical Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $503,000. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 48,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,197,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $31,749,000 after buying an additional 76,795 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 729,293 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $19,326,000 after buying an additional 29,100 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 301,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,987,000 after buying an additional 24,500 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Merit Medical Systems Company Profile
Merit Medical Systems, Inc is a manufacturer and marketer of disposable medical devices used in a range of interventional, diagnostic and therapeutic medical procedures. The Company operates in two segments: cardiovascular and endoscopy. The cardiovascular segment consists of cardiology and radiology devices, which assist in diagnosing and treating coronary arterial disease, peripheral vascular disease and other non-vascular diseases, and includes embolotherapeutic, cardiac rhythm management (CRM), electrophysiology (EP), and interventional oncology and spine devices.
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