Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Has $36.21 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,512 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third 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 acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial raised their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE MRK traded up $2.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $130.38. 6,566,817 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,202,011. The firm has a market cap of $330.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.87, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.33. 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. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.