Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Has $4.72 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,385,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.7% during the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 105.4% in the first quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.1% in the first quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 34,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,543,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $101.88 on Friday. 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 $258.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $112.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 37.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.