Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,901 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 775 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.3% of Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings 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 worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $724,776,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,622,000 after buying an additional 1,959,152 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE MRK opened at $106.90 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $114.01 and its 200 day moving average is $122.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.80 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $270.76 billion, a PE ratio of 118.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

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.