Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Lessened by Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,952,000 after buying an additional 2,352,256 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,289,429,000 after buying an additional 1,246,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,048,000 after buying an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $131.20. The company had a trading volume of 7,758,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

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.