Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 196,833 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 2.4% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 3,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the first quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 10,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.3% in the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 86,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,440,000 after acquiring an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $96.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.