Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Sentry LLC

Sentry LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,456 shares of the company’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.2% of Sentry LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sentry LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. EdgeRock Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.4% during the third quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 3,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 41,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,680,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 7,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America cut their target price on 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $111.54 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.51 billion, a PE ratio of 123.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm 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, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.