Royal Fund Management LLC Buys 880 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,565 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.75. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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 firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.