Patron Partners LLC Purchases 139 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Patron Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,855 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 139 shares during the quarter. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.76 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $110.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.73. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $98.60 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $254.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.