W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,970 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC now owns 2,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,816,000. NTV Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 8,267 shares during the period. Finally, Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 13,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 2,258 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.