Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,385 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,115 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 164,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,747,000 after purchasing an additional 84,597 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 26,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 127,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,870,000 after purchasing an additional 4,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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 Friday. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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.