Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.0 %

MRK traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $131.26. 1,493,636 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,248,850. The company has a market cap of $332.49 billion, a PE ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale 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 Merck & Co., Inc. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.