Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Key Financial Inc

Key Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,677 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Envision Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 165,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,817,000 after acquiring an additional 3,132 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 16,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the first quarter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $101.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,180,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,858,824. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $112.29 and its 200 day moving average is $120.87. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.60 and a 1-year 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

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.