Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,290 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.5% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in 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 buying an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third 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 last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $48,921,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,983,000 after purchasing an additional 57,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after purchasing an additional 181,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $249.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $97.90 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share 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.