Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,894,965 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 327,286 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $315,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berry Wealth Group LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $4,606,000. Cannell & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 315,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,441,000 after buying an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 4,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $129.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,825,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,222,379. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.54, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.38. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business 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 was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Truist Financial upped 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, April 26th. Finally, Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.