Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Has $1.64 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,417 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $103.96. 2,035,147 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,762,968. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $113.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.80 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS 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.