Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by WestEnd Advisors LLC

WestEnd Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 310,703 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,407 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $35,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 160,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,470,000 after buying an additional 17,210 shares in the last quarter. Penbrook Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Penbrook Management LLC now owns 4,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the first quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 82,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,924,000 after purchasing an additional 6,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $102.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,011,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,756,849. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 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 posted ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of 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. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.46.

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.