Advantage Trust Co Purchases Shares of 700 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

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 value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $130.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,095,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,196,433. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.85 billion, a PE ratio of 144.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current 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.