Gold Investment Management Ltd. Sells 1,462 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Gold Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,889 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,462 shares during the quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 122.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 186,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,635,000 after acquiring an additional 102,841 shares during the last quarter. Loews Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $14,514,000. Finally, CNA Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,514,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.05 on Friday, reaching $101.22. The stock had a trading volume of 92,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,814,111. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.60 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $256.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $111.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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. 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 last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lowered 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 report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.80.

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.