M&G Plc Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

M&G Plc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 536,576 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,981 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $61,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.9% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 19,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,596,000 after purchasing an additional 4,643 shares during the period. Chapman Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Hemenway Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the first quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 9,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.37 and a 200-day moving average of $120.33. The firm has a market cap of $255.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.60 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

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.