Stiles Financial Services Inc Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,114 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 559 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 36,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,200,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 345,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,228,000 after buying an additional 52,667 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 152,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,337,000 after buying an additional 7,263 shares during the last quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown now owns 35,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,075,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $101.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $111.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $98.60 and a one year 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 company has a market capitalization of $256.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.80.

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.