Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,227 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,969 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.98. 9,625,498 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,795,396. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $113.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.