Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 192 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $98.53 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $97.90 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $249.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $110.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.50.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

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.