Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC Purchases 1,807 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 554.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,133 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.5% of Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Patron Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $48,921,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.8% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 485,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,056,000 after purchasing an additional 181,520 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $104.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 925,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,749,075. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.80 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $265.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.