Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Boosted by McAdam LLC

McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,148 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the quarter. McAdam LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 26,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,872,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,000. Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 142,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,522,000 after purchasing an additional 15,757 shares during the period. Cora Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $131.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,890,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,254,801. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price 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. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. 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 raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.