Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC

Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,204 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Security National Bank now owns 73,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,688,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the first quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 4,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.47. 925,051 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,757,181. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two 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 firm has a market cap of $269.67 billion, a PE ratio of 118.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.04.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial lowered their target price on 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. Bank of America reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

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.