Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

by · The Markets Daily

Leavell Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,835 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 204.0% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 119,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,610,000 after purchasing an additional 80,428 shares during the last quarter. Triune Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $260,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 6,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7 %

MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.03.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued its 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 37.32%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein started 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. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.80.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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