Poplar Forest Capital LLC Sells 98,453 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 234,854 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98,453 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 3.7% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $25,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third 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 period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MRK traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, hitting $127.01. 7,105,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,287,475. 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 quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 907.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.