Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Aviso Wealth Management

Aviso Wealth Management grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,103 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 3,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Hilltop Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 10,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 86,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,440,000 after buying an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $96.31 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $108.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.38 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.