Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by SRS Capital Advisors Inc.

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,037 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

MRK traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. The company had a trading volume of 6,218,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,239,238. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.58. 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 company has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10.

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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.