Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,265 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 55.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,265 shares during the period. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.56 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $244.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $108.46 and a 200-day moving average of $118.60. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.