WealthTrust Axiom LLC Has $4.72 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,287 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.6% of WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,246,705 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 12,988,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,054,000 after purchasing an additional 984,463 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,587,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,241,000 after purchasing an additional 178,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $129.20. 3,386,364 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,256,373. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $327.27 billion, a PE ratio of 144.50, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.78 billion for 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 revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

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

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.