Perkins Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Perkins Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,175 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.1% of Perkins Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Perkins Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 23,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. GGM Financials LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $233,000. Malaga Cove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the third quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 23,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baugh & Associates LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 50,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,532,000 after buying an additional 4,541 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.72 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $255.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.93.

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.