Choreo LLC Acquires 10,304 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 52,105 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,304 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Monday, hitting $130.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,531,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,263,974. The stock has a market cap of $330.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $126.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.05.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, 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. 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.