Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Chase Investment Counsel Corp

Chase Investment Counsel Corp reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 40.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,101 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,615 shares during the quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% during 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 during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during 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 during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. 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 report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.94 during trading on Monday, reaching $130.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,893,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,267,913. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $329.95 billion, a PE ratio of 145.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $126.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.05.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. 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 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share 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.