Burt Wealth Advisors Has $668,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Burt Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,882 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 368 shares during the quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. 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 valued at $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after acquiring an additional 181,520 shares during the period. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,296,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $101.88. 1,657,441 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,820,004. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $111.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.33. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $258.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $98.60 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.80.

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.