Allstate Corp Sells 185 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Allstate Corp lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,399 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 29,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richwood Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $131.35. 2,415,157 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,955,250. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $127.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.31. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

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.