Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC Buys 13,339 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 240,703 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,339 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.6% of Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $26,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 15,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. TAP Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Gould Asset Management LLC CA grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 4,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 49,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank raised 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

MRK opened at $131.19 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.