New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,424 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.7% of New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.88 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 company has a market cap of $258.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $112.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.84. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

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

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.