Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Lifted by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,833 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.4% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lowered 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 research report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lowered 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. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $96.31 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

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.