MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Has $200,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,758 shares of the company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $724,776,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $106.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $269.44 billion, a PE ratio of 118.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $113.86 and a 200-day moving average of $121.93. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.80 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

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.