Lindbrook Capital LLC Buys 8,985 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 44.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,398 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of 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. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $102.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.03. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $260.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.