Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Private Wealth Partners LLC

Private Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 316,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,723 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.0% of Private Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $25,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co lifted its position 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.51 and its 200-day moving average is $81.60. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.11. The firm has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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.