Salomon & Ludwin LLC Sells 237 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,551,000 after buying an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 111.5% during the 1st quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 5,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $260,000. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $203,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $103.98 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.80 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $113.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.59. The company has a market capitalization of $263.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Barclays cut 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 research note on Monday, October 7th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.46.

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.