Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Meridian Wealth Partners LLC

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $131.20. The company had a trading volume of 7,758,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The company has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered 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. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.