Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Lifeworks Advisors LLC

Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 54,693 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,116 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.2% of Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,921,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after buying an additional 57,106 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after acquiring an additional 181,520 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim decreased their price target 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, November 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $98.37. 1,338,103 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,843,182. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.90 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.