Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC

Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,701 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 175,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,086 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 59,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares in the last quarter. Fundamentum LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fundamentum LLC now owns 18,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 79,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,198,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Windsor Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% during the third quarter. Windsor Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MRK traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The company has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.