Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 145.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 248,397 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,267 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.4% of Empowered Funds LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $28,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after acquiring an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,537,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $742,358,000 after buying an additional 43,578 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $97.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $97.32 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $109.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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.