UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Raises PT on Merit Medical Systems to $24 (MMSI)

Piper Jaffray is out with its report today on Merit Medical Systems MMSI, raising its price target from $20 to $24. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "Merit reported robust Q4 results with both sales and adjusted EPS coming in ahead of our thinking. In addition, management provided 2011 sales and EPS guidance that topped our thinking. Given the company's product line-up and pipeline, Merit appears well positioned to grow its base business in the high single digits, which is well ahead of the underlying market growth as the company gains incremental market share. Moreover, we anticipate EPS to grow at an even faster clip as the sales mix shifts towards higher margin, more proprietary products. We maintain our Overweight rating on Merit Medical. We are raising our price target from $20 to $24 as we shift our valuation convention from 2011 to 2012." Shares of MMSI closed Thursday at $15.44, down 0.39% from Wednesday's close.