Northern Financial Advisors Inc Lowers Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,861 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.7% of Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 24,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,792,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 112,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,762,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. First Interstate Bank raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 12,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 25,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,916,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 8,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE MRK opened at $101.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $112.29 and its 200 day moving average is $120.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $258.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

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.