Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR Has $1.26 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 70.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,541 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,776 shares during the quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $130.23. The company had a trading volume of 9,105,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,179,641. The firm has a market cap of $329.85 billion, a PE ratio of 143.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.33. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10.

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 during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current 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.