Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires 12,477 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,521 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,477 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.6% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the insider now 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $130.10. The company had a trading volume of 6,829,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,318,161. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.55 billion, a PE ratio of 144.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. 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 report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

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.