Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Purchased by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 345,823 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $27,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the second quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,327,000 after acquiring an additional 79,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.