Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. Has $2.25 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,663 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,325 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.6% of Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. NTV Asset Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE MRK traded down $1.60 on Friday, hitting $129.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,983,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,628,031. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.68. The firm has a market cap of $327.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.88, a PEG ratio of 1.68 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. 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 data from MarketBeat, 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.