Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. Invests $214,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on 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, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $2.81 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,566,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,202,011. 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 current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $330.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average is $117.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.