Verity Asset Management Inc. Buys 611 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,248 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

MRK opened at $101.19 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average is $111.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.33. The company has a market capitalization of $256.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.60 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.