Private Management Group Inc. Purchases 187 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,744 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 44.0% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 7,224 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 13,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 69,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,176,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the third quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 15,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $127.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,083,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,258,762. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $321.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 906.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $126.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.51.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

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.