Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,487 shares of the company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $343,000. Finally, Landaas & Co. WI ADV raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV now owns 2,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started 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 objective on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,862,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,848,424. The company has a market capitalization of $250.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.90 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.