Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Purchases 102,517 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 775,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 102,517 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.1% of Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $87,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% during the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 46,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,939,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.6% in the third quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 9,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the third quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.8% in the third quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 445,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,615,000 after purchasing an additional 73,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.42 on Friday, hitting $105.46. 1,537,932 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,756,399. 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. has a one year low of $99.80 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

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.