MONECO Advisors LLC Buys 203 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,764 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MRK opened at $129.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $328.03 billion, a PE ratio of 143.54, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $126.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.