Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Has $8.55 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,431 shares during the quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MRK opened at $104.98 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $112.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.80 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $265.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

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.