Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 75.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,715 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,041 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $99.12. The company had a trading volume of 725,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,840,410. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.90 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $250.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus 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.