Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $2.60 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,833 shares of the company’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Barclays increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $131.19. The stock had a trading volume of 7,757,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,336,532. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $332.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 937.07, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.