Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Wallington Asset Management LLC

Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,449 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,557 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 74.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 10,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 4,495 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 6,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 364.8% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 344,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,082,000 after purchasing an additional 270,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $106.38 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 $269.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $113.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.93. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.80 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.