Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Tevis Investment Management

Tevis Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,582 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.2% of Tevis Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Tevis Investment Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $444,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 63,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,201,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% in the third quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 42,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184 shares in the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the third quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 3,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.0% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $104.98 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $112.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. 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 1-year low of $99.80 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.