Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,934 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,758,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.05. 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 twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.