Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Position in Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 35,386 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Merit Medical Systems were worth $2,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Merit Medical Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Merit Medical Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 99.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMSI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. CL King started coverage on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Merit Medical Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Merit Medical Systems from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

MMSI opened at $74.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.70, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.69. The company has a quick ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.58 and a 52-week high of $85.62.

Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.04. Merit Medical Systems had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 7.51%. The company had revenue of $324.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $320.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Merit Medical Systems’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Merit Medical Systems, Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merit Medical Systems

In other Merit Medical Systems news, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,892,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Merit Medical Systems news, Director Thomas James Gunderson sold 18,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total value of $1,380,476.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,109.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Wright sold 25,000 shares of Merit Medical Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,892,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,195,436.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,637 shares of company stock valued at $3,751,673 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.