Stephens Inc. AR Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 575,581 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,658 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.9% of Stephens Inc. AR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $65,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $102.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.04. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.60 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $259.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.46.

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.