Buck Wealth Strategies LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,772 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,081 shares during the quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st 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 grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company's stock worth $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $249.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.73. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.50 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.
MRK has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.86.
Get Our Latest Report on 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.
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