Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Has $563,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 38.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,960 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,145 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 105.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 164,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,747,000 after purchasing an additional 84,597 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 26,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 127,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,870,000 after purchasing an additional 4,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $96.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $108.84 and its 200 day moving average is $118.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.