KPP Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KPP Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,519 shares of the company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.9% in the third quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 25,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 4,702 shares during the last quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.4% during the third quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC now owns 5,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% during the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 37,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,252,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective 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, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $2.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $96.31. The stock had a trading volume of 16,464,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,910,528. The stock has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $108.84 and a 200-day moving average of $118.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business 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 revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.