Crumly & Associates Inc. Has $941,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Crumly & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,290 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $260.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 37.32%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.