Pullen Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pullen Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,834 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opinicus Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.4% during the first quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 11,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 16,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 8,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.6% in the first quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 11,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.5% during the first quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 105,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,908,000 after purchasing an additional 17,194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of 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. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE MRK opened at $103.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $113.52 and its 200 day moving average is $121.63. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 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.