Mendel Money Management Purchases 286 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Mendel Money Management grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,028 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Mendel Money Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% in the 1st 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 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated 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 assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $217.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

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