Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Stake Increased by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,169 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,559 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,169,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,507 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,413,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,573,754,000 after buying an additional 1,087,583 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,249,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,083,033,000 after buying an additional 1,934,312 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,774,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,701,831,000 after buying an additional 2,919,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,456,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,858,938,000 after buying an additional 2,969,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $147.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $146.34 and a 200 day moving average of $128.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.90 and a 12 month high of $156.92. The firm has a market cap of $363.07 billion, a PE ratio of 151.83, a PEG ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Freedom Broker lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co., Inc. is a global pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal-health products. The company’s research and commercial activities span areas including oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Its products include the cancer medicine Keytruda and the Gardasil vaccine. Founded in the United States in 1891, Merck & Co. became an independent company in 1917. It is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and operates internationally.