Round Rock Advisors LLC Acquires 103 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,314 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,056,000 after purchasing an additional 181,520 shares during the period. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,296,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $102.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.03. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $260.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group cut 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.