Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 6,570 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 284,419 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,570 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $32,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company's stock worth $794,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865,948 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.81 on Friday, reaching $96.55. The company had a trading volume of 12,136,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,891,199. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

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.