Ellenbecker Investment Group Sells 1,124 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ellenbecker Investment Group reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,124 shares during the quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 68,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,127,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% in the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 5,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 107,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 8,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 96,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,956,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE MRK traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $126.88. The company had a trading volume of 7,494,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,299,669. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 906.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $126.21 and its 200 day moving average is $115.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.