Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,697 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,394 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 424,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,239,000 after buying an additional 42,052 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 206,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,420,000 after acquiring an additional 6,503 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 280,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,822,000 after acquiring an additional 6,797 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 72,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,278,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $98.76. 2,810,625 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,848,424. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $110.02 and a 200-day moving average of $119.50. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $97.90 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $249.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.