Fiducient Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,440 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Barclays cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.46.
Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $104.98 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $265.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Profile
Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.
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