24,000 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Purchased by AlphaCentric Advisors LLC

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,000. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.0% of AlphaCentric Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.0 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $258.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $112.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.64.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

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.