Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $48.24 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 424,793 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,052 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $48,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the first quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zega Financial LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $343,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $98.35. 1,356,151 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,841,141. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $110.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.50. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.90 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share 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.