Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Intrust Bank NA

Intrust Bank NA cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,947 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,975 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Ridge Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 8,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Investment House LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 122,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,342,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 52,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,720,000 after buying an additional 10,304 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $1.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $130.12. 6,772,116 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,293,661. The company’s 50 day moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.05. The company has a market capitalization of $329.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.