Linscomb Wealth Inc. Has $8.11 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,405 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,372,000 after acquiring an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,537,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,358,000 after acquiring an additional 43,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE MRK traded down $2.83 on Friday, hitting $95.53. 5,084,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,857,322. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.20. The company has a market capitalization of $241.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.