LJI Wealth Management LLC Sells 261 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

LJI Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,554 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew 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 during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 93,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,379,000 after buying an additional 6,190 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 105.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 164,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,747,000 after acquiring an additional 84,597 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 32,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,270,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $2.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.31. The company had a trading volume of 16,464,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,910,528. 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 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.97. The stock has a market cap of $243.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

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.