Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC Buys 13,339 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,703 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,339 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.6% of Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $26,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $131.19 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.88. The firm has a market cap of $332.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.77, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.