Central Bank & Trust Co. Sells 425 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Central Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,040 shares of the company’s stock after selling 425 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Martin Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the third quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 49,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 60,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,911,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $2,725,000. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy CG LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% during the third quarter. Legacy CG LLC now owns 52,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,999,000 after buying an additional 3,629 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.87 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.60 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.00 and a 200 day moving average of $120.64. The stock has a market cap of $258.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during 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 last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

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.