Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Acquires 10,610 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 597,543 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,610 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.6% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $67,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $42,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced 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 research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

MRK stock opened at $106.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $270.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $114.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.04. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.