Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Cut by Bogart Wealth LLC

Bogart Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale lowered 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.31 on Thursday, reaching $129.86. 2,775,154 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,103,460. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.33. The firm has a market cap of $328.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.