Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,395 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 189 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 3,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Hilltop Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 10,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 86,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,440,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

MRK opened at $96.31 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

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.