Court Place Advisors LLC Sells 208 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Court Place Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,756 shares of the company’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.1% of Court Place Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 46,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.6% during the third quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 9,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 445,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,615,000 after acquiring an additional 73,705 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,038,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,753,986. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.80 and a 52 week 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $113.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.93. The firm has a market cap of $266.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

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.