Grimes & Company Inc. Has $2.42 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Grimes & Company Inc. decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,317 shares of the company’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MRK opened at $105.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $113.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.93. 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. has a 12-month low of $99.80 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

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.