Intech Investment Management LLC Has $46.32 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 424,899 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,117 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.7% of Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $46,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $129.49. The stock had a trading volume of 5,983,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,628,031. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.68. The company has a market cap of $327.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share 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.