Privium Fund Management B.V. Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Privium Fund Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,111 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,314 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.7% of Privium Fund Management B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Privium Fund Management B.V.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after buying an additional 181,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $3,296,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. 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. has a twelve month low of $98.60 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $110.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.03. The firm has a market cap of $260.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.