Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 414 shares during the period. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after acquiring an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,782,000 after purchasing an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average is $110.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.