Carret Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Carret Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 82,128 shares of the company’s stock after selling 727 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.1% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kennedy Investment Group boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $599,000. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $127.01. The company had a trading volume of 7,105,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,287,475. The firm has a market cap of $321.72 billion, a PE ratio of 907.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $126.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.