Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $208,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $96.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $108.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.90. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

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

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.