Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance Sells 119 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,866,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,015,000 after purchasing an additional 37,216 shares during the period. Allen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,728,000 after buying an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. now owns 6,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $730,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 24,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,792,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the third quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 112,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,762,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $101.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $258.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $112.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.60 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

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.