Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 964,500 shares, a drop of 9.9% from the August 31st total of 1,070,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 353,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MMSI. TheStreet raised shares of Merit Medical Systems from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Friday, September 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, July 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merit Medical Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merit Medical Systems from $67.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.14.

Merit Medical Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MMSI opened at $56.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Merit Medical Systems has a 12 month low of $50.46 and a 12 month high of $73.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merit Medical Systems news, COO Neil Peterson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total transaction of $232,400.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Ronald Frost sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total value of $1,242,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,442.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Neil Peterson sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.10, for a total value of $232,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,436 shares of company stock worth $1,627,142. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merit Medical Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMSI. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 148.4% during the second quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 477 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merit Medical Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merit Medical Systems by 56.2% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,287 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.52% of the company's stock.

Merit Medical Systems Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Merit Medical Systems, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and markets single-use medical products for interventional, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures, primarily in cardiology, radiology, oncology, critical care, and endoscopy. The company operates in two segments, Cardiovascular and Endoscopy.

Further Reading

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Merit Medical Systems (MMSI)
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