Stack Financial Management Inc Has $24.38 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stack Financial Management Inc trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 223,596 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,646 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.8% of Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $24,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised 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 valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 9,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $131.26. The stock had a trading volume of 3,182,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,277,641. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 937.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MRK shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.