Home Federal Bank of Tennessee Buys 707 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Home Federal Bank of Tennessee raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,013 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 707 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.6% of Home Federal Bank of Tennessee’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.40. 1,643,785 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,747,730. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $114.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.19. The company has a market capitalization of $269.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.16, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal 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.