Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires 20,452 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,972,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestor Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16,530.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 27,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,012,000 after purchasing an additional 27,441 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,470,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,578,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,931,000 after purchasing an additional 51,393 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 99,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,073,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,403,000 after buying an additional 227,589 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $147.27 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $146.34 and a 200-day moving average of $128.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.90 and a 1 year high of $156.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $363.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.83, a P/E/G ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 16.73%. The business had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co., Inc. is a global pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal-health products. The company’s research and commercial activities span areas including oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Its products include the cancer medicine Keytruda and the Gardasil vaccine. Founded in the United States in 1891, Merck & Co. became an independent company in 1917. It is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and operates internationally.