Altrius Capital Management Inc Has $4.42 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,928 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after buying an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,537,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,358,000 after buying an additional 43,578 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $3.28 on Friday, hitting $95.08. 4,547,643 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,854,578. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.20. The company has a market cap of $240.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim reduced 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average 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.