Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 6,460 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 635,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,460 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $72,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $1.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.98. 9,625,498 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,795,396. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.80 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $263.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

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.