Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 47,594 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,011 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of MRK opened at $96.34 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $108.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.83. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.