Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC Has $6.17 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 767.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,783 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,586 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $104.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $264.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $113.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.46.

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.