Wealthstream Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wealthstream Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,438 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price 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. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $98.53 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $249.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.90 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

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.