Mendel Money Management Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Mendel Money Management boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,028 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $258,267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $87.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $105.11. The firm has a market cap of $217.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $84.55 and its 200 day moving average is $81.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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.