Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Shufro Rose & Co. LLC

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.4% during the third quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.1% during the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the third quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,073,000 after buying an additional 2,319 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.20. 7,758,230 shares of the company traded hands, 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 stock has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.