Ellis Investment Partners LLC Has $2.90 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,507 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on 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, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.90 on Friday, reaching $103.98. 9,625,498 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,795,396. The company has a market capitalization of $263.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.80 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $113.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.63. 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal 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.