Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 311,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,960 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $35,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $106.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $270.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.51, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.80 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.01 and a 200-day moving average of $122.04.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.