10,360 Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Bought by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,134 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,360 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 17,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 850.0% during the third quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the third quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 12,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,905,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. May Hill Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% in the third quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 7,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 122,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. DZ Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $153.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $127.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $1,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,942,755. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total transaction of $10,718,839.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,509 shares in the company, valued at $6,073,631.14. This represents a 63.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,011,040. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0%

MRK traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $146.90. 7,626,136 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,275,775. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.42 billion, a PE ratio of 151.44, a PEG ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.24 and a 52-week high of $156.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.