Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Reduced by Hamel Associates Inc.

Hamel Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 88,189 shares of the company’s stock after selling 695 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 3.1% of Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the third 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of MRK opened at $98.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.50. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.50 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $249.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.