Element Wealth LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Element Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,549 shares of the company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Element Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 9,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.88. 7,494,443 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,299,651. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.39 billion, a PE ratio of 906.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.