Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Waycross Partners LLC

Waycross Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 254.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 10,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. St. Louis Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 115,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,608,000 after acquiring an additional 3,641 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 16,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 10,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, 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 company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

MRK traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $129.19. 6,944,906 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,301,608. 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 moving average of $126.50 and a 200 day moving average of $116.42. The firm has a market cap of $327.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, March 11th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.