Massachusetts Wealth Management Acquires 100 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,474 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.6% of Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,691,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,757,142. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.80 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $113.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

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.