Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Cut by Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,825 shares of the company’s stock after selling 942 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,983,000 after buying an additional 57,106 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,973,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,655,000 after buying an additional 150,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,056,000 after acquiring an additional 181,520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $96.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.90.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

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.