Austin Private Wealth LLC Purchases 578 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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 reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $87.13 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.