Savvy Advisors Inc. Has $812,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,148 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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

NYSE MRK opened at $100.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $253.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.60 and a 12-month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.