Concord Wealth Partners Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,590 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,952,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,256 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 report on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $129.77. 3,023,680 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,237,181. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $126.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.42. 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. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $328.71 billion, a PE ratio of 143.54, a PEG ratio of 1.67 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.