Bristlecone Advisors LLC Sells 18,975 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Bristlecone Advisors LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 57.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,975 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ELCO Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 200.7% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 4,380 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 9,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Motco grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% during the second quarter. Motco now owns 145,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,388,000 after acquiring an additional 7,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Money Management boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 9,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MRK opened at $86.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $216.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.72. 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. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.