56,841 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Compass Capital Management Inc.

Compass Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 510,258 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,841 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 4.7% of Compass Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Compass Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $74,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,169,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,507 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,413,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,573,754,000 after buying an additional 1,087,583 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,249,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,083,033,000 after buying an additional 1,934,312 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 41,699,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,059,345,000 after buying an additional 3,183,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,774,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,701,831,000 after buying an additional 2,919,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. News Summary

Here’s some of the latest news about MRK:

• Positive Sentiment: The EMA’s CHMP recommended expanding ENFLONSIA’s use to help prevent severe RSV lower respiratory tract disease in vulnerable children up to 24 months old, including through their second RSV season. The broader eligible population could support the medicine’s commercial opportunity in Europe. Merck ENFLONSIA CHMP recommendation
• Positive Sentiment: The CHMP also recommended WELIREG plus lenvatinib for adults with advanced clear-cell renal cell carcinoma after anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment. This would extend WELIREG into another treatment setting and expand Merck’s oncology portfolio in Europe. Merck WELIREG CHMP recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Both decisions are CHMP recommendations; European Commission approval is still needed. Any financial contribution will also depend on launch timing, uptake and competition.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $179.00 to $177.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $147.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $146.16 and its 200 day moving average is $128.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.31, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.49 and a 12 month high of $156.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 3.64%. The firm had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co., Inc. is a global pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal-health products. The company’s research and commercial activities span areas including oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Its products include the cancer medicine Keytruda and the Gardasil vaccine. Founded in the United States in 1891, Merck & Co. became an independent company in 1917. It is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and operates internationally.