Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,213 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% in the third quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 56,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,812,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 658,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 8,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 7,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $0.75 on Friday, hitting $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The business’s fifty day moving average is $126.45 and its 200 day moving average is $116.94. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 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 the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MRK. UBS Group lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays increased 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 note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.