Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 145.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,397 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 147,267 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.4% of Empowered Funds LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $28,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company's stock worth $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company's stock worth $1,121,372,000 after purchasing an additional 114,080 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company's stock valued at $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,537,142 shares of the company's stock worth $742,358,000 after purchasing an additional 43,578 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their target price 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 dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.06 on Friday, reaching $96.30. 16,428,777 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,910,528. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research 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.