Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Bridgewater Advisors Inc.

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,224 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $100.72 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $111.37 and a two-hundred 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.