First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,379 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 240,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,241,000 after buying an additional 13,339 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 15,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the period. TAP Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, Gould Asset Management LLC CA grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 4,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $131.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $332.31 billion, a PE ratio of 145.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.88.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 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.