Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Johnson Financial Group Inc.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,822 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,932 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.61 on Friday, hitting $129.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,982,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,980,284. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $128.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS 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 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

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.