Concord Asset Management LLC VA Has $5.08 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,715 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,075 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.1% of Concord Asset Management LLC VA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Concord Asset Management LLC VA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $96.31 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve 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 has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $108.84 and its 200-day moving average is $118.90.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.