Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Raised by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,348 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $372,000. Blue Chip Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 142,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,522,000 after purchasing an additional 15,757 shares during the period. Cora Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Finally, Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8 %

MRK opened at $130.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $329.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $126.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

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.