Lmcg Investments LLC Has $12.76 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lmcg Investments LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,382 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. First Interstate Bank lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 12,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 25,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,916,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 8,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 1,728 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 23,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,478,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.88. The company had a trading volume of 10,180,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,858,824. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $258.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.87. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.