Contrasting Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) and GE HealthCare Technologies (NASDAQ:GEHC)

GE HealthCare Technologies (NASDAQ:GEHC) and Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

82.1% of GE HealthCare Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of Merit Medical Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of GE HealthCare Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Merit Medical Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for GE HealthCare Technologies and Merit Medical Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GE HealthCare Technologies	0	11	11	1	2.57
Merit Medical Systems	0	4	8	0	2.67

GE HealthCare Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $78.35, suggesting a potential upside of 9.65%. Merit Medical Systems has a consensus price target of $100.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.18%. Given GE HealthCare Technologies’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe GE HealthCare Technologies is more favorable than Merit Medical Systems.

Profitability

This table compares GE HealthCare Technologies and Merit Medical Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GE HealthCare Technologies	9.33%	20.12%	5.74%
Merit Medical Systems	9.22%	13.75%	8.10%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares GE HealthCare Technologies and Merit Medical Systems”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GE HealthCare Technologies	$20.62 billion	1.56	$2.08 billion	$4.36	16.39
Merit Medical Systems	$1.52 billion	3.67	$128.49 million	$2.42	38.55

GE HealthCare Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Merit Medical Systems. GE HealthCare Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Merit Medical Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

GE HealthCare Technologies has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Merit Medical Systems has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

GE HealthCare Technologies beats Merit Medical Systems on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GE HealthCare Technologies

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of products, services, and complementary digital solutions used in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics. The Imaging segment offers molecular imaging, computed tomography (CT) scanning, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, image-guided therapy, X-ray systems, and women’s health products. The Ultrasound segment provides medical devices and solutions for screening, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of certain diseases in clinical areas, such as radiology and primary care, women’s health, cardiovascular, and point of care and handheld ultrasound solutions, as well as surgical visualization and guidance products. The Patient Care Solutions segment provides medical devices, consumables, services, and digital solutions. Its portfolio includes patient monitoring solutions, anesthesia delivery and respiratory care products, electrocardiogram solutions, maternal infant care products, and consumables and services. The Pharmaceutical Diagnostics supplies diagnostic agents, including CT, angiography and X-ray, MR, single-photon emission computed tomography, positron emission tomography, and ultrasound to the radiology and nuclear medicine industry. The segment also provides contrast media pharmaceuticals that are administered to a patient prior to certain diagnostic scans to increase the visibility of tissues or structures during imaging exams; and molecular imaging agents or radiopharmaceuticals, which are molecular tracers labeled with radioisotopes. It has an AI collaboration with Mass General Brigham. The company was formerly known as GE Healthcare Holding LLC and changed its name to GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. in December 2022. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

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. It also offers custom procedural solutions that include critical care products, disinfection protection systems, syringes, manifold kits, and trays and packs; coating services for medical tubes and wires; and sensor components for microelectromechanical systems. In addition, the company provides pulmonary products that consist of laser-cut tracheobronchial stents, over-the-wire and direct visualization delivery systems, and dilation balloons to endoscopically dilate structures; gastroenterology products, such as covered esophageal stents, syringe and gauges, and balloon dilators; and kits and accessories for endoscopy and bronchoscopy procedures. It sells its products to hospitals and alternate site-based physicians, technicians, and nurses through direct sales force, distributors, original equipment manufacturer partners, or custom procedure tray manufacturers. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in South Jordan, Utah.