Marco Investment Management LLC Sells 659 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marco Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 659 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,177,000. Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $3,747,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $131.20. 7,758,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.05.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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 return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 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, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock 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 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 MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.