Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Cuts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 56.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 905,493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,166,230 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $98,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 9,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 51,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,360,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 24,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,927 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. 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. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. 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 report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.9 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $3.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $130.71. The stock had a trading volume of 12,747,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,343,713. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $331.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 928.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $126.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.59.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

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

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following 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 insiders.

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.