Bridges Investment Management Inc. Sells 5,857 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 60,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,857 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $102.92 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.80.

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.