Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. Acquires 4,702 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,279 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,702 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.2% of Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.4% in the third quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC now owns 5,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% during the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 37,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,252,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 38,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $96.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $108.84 and its 200 day moving average is $118.97. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share 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.