Lewis Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,819 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 641 shares during the quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after purchasing an additional 181,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $3,296,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays dropped 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 report on Monday, October 7th. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $101.19 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two 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 $256.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.33.

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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for 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 37.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.