One Day In July LLC Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

One Day In July LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,363 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Heritage Investors Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the second quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 328,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,037,000 after buying an additional 8,073 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 189,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,991,000 after purchasing an additional 3,917 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the second quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 43,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,441,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% during the second quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $640,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the second quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 76,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,000 after buying an additional 2,642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6%

MRK opened at $86.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.72. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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.