Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,796 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.6% of Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,952,000 after buying an additional 2,352,256 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after buying an additional 1,246,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after buying an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 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 approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Truist Financial lifted 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $131.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.