Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Boosts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,888 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the first quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% during the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the first quarter. Security National Bank now owns 73,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,688,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the first quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 4,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $106.66 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.80 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $114.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.04.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.