Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,297 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,253 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.6% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Patron Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $48,921,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $101.87 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $112.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $258.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.60 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.