Romano Brothers AND Company Buys 1,670 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Romano Brothers AND Company raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,933 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 47,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,427,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 20,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.0% during the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 17,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of MRK opened at $106.38 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $113.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.80 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business 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%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.