Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,929 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,954 shares during the quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $96.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.