Townsend & Associates Inc Has $943,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Townsend & Associates Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,197 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $943,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the third quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.0% during the third quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 332,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,251,000 after acquiring an additional 109,400 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.3% in the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 8,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the third quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 14,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 150.2% in the third quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $130.11. The company had a trading volume of 4,559,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,141,746. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.33. 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 firm has a market cap of $329.54 billion, a PE ratio of 143.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.