Equitable Trust Co. Acquires 3,015 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 58,610 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,015 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,372,000 after purchasing an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after buying an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,782,000 after buying an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $260.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.74 and a 200 day moving average of $120.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.60 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 37.32%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial cut 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.80.

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.