Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 11,405 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,405 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Union Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% during the third quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Kure Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $263,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $119,000. Legacy CG LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the third quarter. Legacy CG LLC now owns 40,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 6,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.75 on Friday, reaching $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.49 and its 200-day moving average is $116.58. 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 firm has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a PE ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS 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.