Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC

ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,007 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.1% of ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NTV Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during 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 period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $2.22 on Tuesday, hitting $129.79. The stock had a trading volume of 3,773,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,166,796. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $126.42 and a 200 day moving average of $117.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.78, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.