Forte Capital LLC ADV Purchases 4,540 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,885 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,540 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 19,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,643 shares during the period. Chapman Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Hemenway Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 9,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MRK opened at $100.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.60 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

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.