Garrison Point Advisors LLC Sells 600 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Garrison Point Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Garrison Point Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 9,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.8% in the third quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 445,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,615,000 after purchasing an additional 73,705 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 189.3% during the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 61,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,940,000 after buying an additional 39,987 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% during the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 63,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,266,000 after buying an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of 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, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $105.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $268.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.93. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 earnings per share 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.