Intellectus Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 6,426 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Intellectus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $96.30 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $109.27 and a 200 day moving average of $119.20. The firm has a market cap of $243.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price 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. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.