Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by NewSquare Capital LLC

NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,944 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,490 shares during the quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cardinal Capital Management grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 68,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,127,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 5,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 107,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,065,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 8,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 96,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,956,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded 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 report on Monday, March 11th. One investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock remained flat at $126.94 on Tuesday. 7,743,486 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.35. The firm has a market cap of $321.54 billion, a PE ratio of 906.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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.