Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 1,231 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,079 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after buying an additional 181,520 shares during the period. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,296,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.03. The stock has a market cap of $260.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. 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 $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.80.

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.