Tower Bridge Advisors Has $5.51 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.31 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $108.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.90. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. 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 posted its earnings results 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 company 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 firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

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.