Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 68,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,904 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,509,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,157,000 after buying an additional 435,308 shares in the last quarter. Rogco LP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% during the first quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 2,868,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,546,000 after buying an additional 121,871 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $100.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $255.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.60 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays lowered 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given 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.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.