Physicians Financial Services Inc. Has $1.31 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,510 shares of the company’s stock after selling 585 shares during the quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $48,921,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after buying an additional 181,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Latko Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $3,296,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.39 on Friday, hitting $101.56. 574,217 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,816,330. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $111.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.80.

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.