American Capital Advisory LLC Purchases 4,805 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

American Capital Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 355.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,158 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,805 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,307,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,574,000 after purchasing an additional 10,991 shares during the last quarter. Etfidea LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.03. 2,140,478 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,819,025. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.60 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $258.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, 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 for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.93.

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.