1900 Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

1900 Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,063 shares of the company’s stock after selling 667 shares during the quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,952,000 after buying an additional 2,352,256 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after buying an additional 1,246,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after buying an additional 1,186,842 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

MRK stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $127.01. 2,325,521 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,229,124. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.72 billion, a PE ratio of 906.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.