Latko Wealth Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 29,025 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Latko Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 29,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,296,000. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 2.0% of Latko Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Capital World Investors grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after acquiring an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,135,000 after acquiring an additional 56,644 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after acquiring an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.88 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $258.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $112.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.