JFS Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,090 shares of the company’s stock after selling 390 shares during the quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102,675.5% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,860,147,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,642,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,338,022 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,363,385,000 after acquiring an additional 39,289,404 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,736,293,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 35,734,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,801,839,000 after acquiring an additional 8,281,942 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 68,563,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,294,504,000 after acquiring an additional 6,546,946 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.59% of the company’s stock.
Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %
MRK opened at $103.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $262.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.43, a P/E/G ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $105.35 and a 200 day moving average of $109.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.36 and a 12 month high of $119.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, October 6th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $123.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.65.
Get Our Latest Report on Merck & Co., Inc.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total value of $463,292.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,500,144.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Merck & Co., Inc. Profile
(Free Report)
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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.
See Also
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