Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Lifted by Pointe Capital Management LLC

Pointe Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,117 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Pointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd 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. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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. Bank of America decreased 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.8 %

MRK traded down $1.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.98. 9,625,498 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,795,396. The stock has a market cap of $263.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

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.