AM Squared Ltd Acquires New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $96.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $108.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.90.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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.