Haverford Trust Co Sells 54,165 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Haverford Trust Co cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 755,212 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,165 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $85,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $98.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $110.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.50. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.50 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

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.