Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,271 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,323 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.4% of Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 11,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the third quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.9% in the third quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 25,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after buying an additional 4,702 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $96.31 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $108.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

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

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.