Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Has $796,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 617 shares during the period. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 175,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,086 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 59,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares during the period. Fundamentum LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fundamentum LLC now owns 18,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 79,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,198,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Windsor Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% in the third quarter. Windsor Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The firm has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a PE ratio of 141.68, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.75. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.