Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 145,914 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,852 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.5% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,509,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,157,000 after purchasing an additional 435,308 shares in the last quarter. Rogco LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% during the first quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 2,868,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,546,000 after purchasing an additional 121,871 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,940,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,834,670. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $110.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.73. The company has a market cap of $252.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, 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

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.