Horan Capital Advisors LLC. Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,072 shares of the company’s stock after selling 775 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.6% of Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.51. 6,218,206 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,239,238. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a PE ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.58. 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 posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective 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, April 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.