Americana Partners LLC Buys 1,071 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Americana Partners LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,768 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.60 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.