Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC Sells 7,868 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,868 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 92,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,474,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 1,467,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,040,000 after acquiring an additional 48,149 shares during the last quarter. American State Bank Iowa acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $796,000. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% in the third quarter. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Uhlmann Price Securities LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the third quarter. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC now owns 14,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $146.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.44, a PEG ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $146.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.63. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.24 and a fifty-two week high of $156.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $18.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 10,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $1,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,942,755. The trade was a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total value of $10,718,839.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,509 shares in the company, valued at $6,073,631.14. This represents a 63.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,851 shares of company stock valued at $15,300,182. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal-health products. The company’s research and commercial activities span areas including oncology, infectious diseases, vaccines, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Its products include the cancer medicine Keytruda and the Gardasil vaccine.

Founded in the United States in 1891, Merck & Co became an independent company in 1917. It is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and operates internationally.