Hantz Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

by · The Markets Daily

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 127,850 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,101 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,665,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,330,668,000 after purchasing an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,077,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,397,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542,036 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $991,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.33.

Read Our Latest Analysis on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $86.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $216.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.72. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $105.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Free Report)

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.

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