Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC Has $4.07 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,083 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $599,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $129.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,685,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,192,938. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.50. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $327.32 billion, a PE ratio of 143.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.