Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,834 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.4% of Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.6% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 37,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947 shares during the last quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.2% in the third quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. now owns 60,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,826,000 after buying an additional 16,314 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 33,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after buying an additional 2,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 18,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.60 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

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.