Community Bank N.A. Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Community Bank N.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 113,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 488 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.6% of Community Bank N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $599,000. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $127.01. 7,105,057 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,287,475. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.26 and a 200-day moving average of $115.59. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $321.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 907.21, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’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 value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.