6,943 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Purchased by Global Assets Advisory LLC

Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 30,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 47,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,427,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 20,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $106.38 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.