US Bancorp DE Sells 46,006 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,965,777 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,006 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.08% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $223,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Patron Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $48,921,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $3.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $101.81. 7,099,872 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,805,328. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.60 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.87 and a 200-day moving average of $121.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.