Knuff & Co LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Knuff & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,270 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $53,125,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,345,000 after buying an additional 24,787 shares in the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $166,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,774,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alterna Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. The stock had a trading volume of 6,221,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $126.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.75. 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 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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.