Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 399,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,134 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $45,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the 1st 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. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 7,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,921,000. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.5% during the first quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 31,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,129,000 after acquiring an additional 3,968 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MRK opened at $98.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $109.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.90 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $248.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current 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.