Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $100.76 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $254.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.