Parthenon LLC Has $18.02 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Parthenon LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 158,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.2% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $18,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $98.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,356,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,845,742. The business’s 50 day moving average is $110.02 and its 200-day moving average is $119.50. The company has a market cap of $248.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $97.90 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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.