Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,688 shares of the company’s stock after selling 129 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,372,000 after purchasing an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,102,135,000 after purchasing an additional 56,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd 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. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $1.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $103.98. 9,625,498 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,795,396. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 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 simple moving average of $113.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

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.