Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,615 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,191 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.0% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NTV Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,089,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $2.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $130.38. 6,523,646 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,174,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.26 billion, a PE ratio of 142.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

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 net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company 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 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.