WestEnd Advisors LLC Sells 1,407 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WestEnd Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 310,703 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,407 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $35,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.9% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 31,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,179,000. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after buying an additional 5,333 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the third quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 40,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,552,000 after acquiring an additional 4,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 22,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,526,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given 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 price target of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.74 on Wednesday, reaching $102.99. 2,011,007 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,756,849. 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. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.09 and a 200-day moving average of $121.28. The company has a market capitalization of $260.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.