Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Reduced by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,547 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 17,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Monte Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the third quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 48,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,454,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period. Wallington Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.4% during the third quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 74.1% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 10,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 4,495 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began 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 on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $106.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.20, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.80 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal 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.