Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,693 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 283 shares during the quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 181,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,296,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $100.72 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $111.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $255.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

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.