Platform Technology Partners Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Platform Technology Partners trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position 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 worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $254.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.60 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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.