Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 129 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

by · The Markets Daily

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,688 shares of the company’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during 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. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $103.98. 9,625,498 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,795,396. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.63. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.80 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on 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. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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