Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 37.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,659 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $96.56 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $244.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.