Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,472,087 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,966 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $160,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 9,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.37 on Thursday, reaching $129.17. 2,543,502 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,204,822. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $126.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.50. The firm has a market cap of $327.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.