Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188,509 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $96.56 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $244.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $108.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS 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.