Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 139,661 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 78.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 39,487 shares of the company’s stock after selling 139,661 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.3% of Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Barclays lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $129.99. 2,358,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,245,240. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $126.46 and its 200-day moving average is $116.24. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $329.27 billion, a PE ratio of 144.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, 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.