Jackson Square Capital LLC Sells 31,156 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Jackson Square Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,848 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,156 shares during the quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 19,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,596,000 after purchasing an additional 4,643 shares in the last quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Hemenway Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 9,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four 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 an average target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $100.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.60 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS 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.