Breed s Hill Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Breed s Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 332,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,251,000 after buying an additional 109,400 shares during the period. Invesco LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.3% in the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 8,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 14,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 150.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $130.23. 9,095,657 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,196,433. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.85 billion, a PE ratio of 144.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $126.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.