Poplar Forest Capital LLC Buys 11,893 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 243,243 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,893 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 3.8% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $27,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $100.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $98.60 and a one year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $111.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.