Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,211 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 56,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,812,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 658,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the third quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 8,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 7,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. The stock had a trading volume of 6,221,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a PE ratio of 141.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial boosted 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, April 26th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.