Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Has $461,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,061 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 164 shares during the quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patron Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $48,921,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.66 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $112.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.64. The company has a market cap of $257.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.60 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.