Sigma Planning Corp Has $4.31 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $102.92 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $260.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Merck & Co., Inc.

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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