Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Lowered by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,317 shares of the company’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

MRK stock opened at $105.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.80 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

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.