Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Trimmed by Family Asset Management LLC

Family Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 571 shares during the period. Family Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of MRK traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $129.78. 2,064,136 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,131,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $328.74 billion, a PE ratio of 144.87, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average is $117.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

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

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 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 is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank upped 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 note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.