PDS Planning Inc Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

PDS Planning Inc lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 146 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. TKG Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 17,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 495,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,284,000 after purchasing an additional 8,659 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,263,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,459,000 after buying an additional 25,257 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,786,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,528,000 after buying an additional 635,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 72,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,214,000 after buying an additional 8,982 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $101.65. 1,128,602 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,824,163. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.81. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.60 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut 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. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.