Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Trimmed by White Pine Capital LLC

White Pine Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,786 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,525 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.5% of White Pine Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $3,289,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,705 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 worth $3,074,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 12,988,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,054,000 after acquiring an additional 984,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,587,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,241,000 after acquiring an additional 178,132 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $131.20. The company had a trading volume of 7,758,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.77, a PEG ratio of 1.69 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current 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.