Fiduciary Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fiduciary Group LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,131 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,147 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 3,196 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Societe Generale downgraded 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

MRK stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.20. 7,758,230 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.96.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS 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.