Eudaimonia Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Eudaimonia Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 996 shares during the quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Kennedy Investment Group boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $599,000. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $126.88. 7,740,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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. The firm has a market cap 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.