Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 7,663 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,663 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 281,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,991,000 after purchasing an additional 10,217 shares during the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the third quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the third quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 47,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,381,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 164.1% during the third quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 4,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 2,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.83. 401,786 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,822,441. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.