Logan Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Logan Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,798 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 22,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the second quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Saiph Capital LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the first quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 3,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the second quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $105.11.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.