Townsend & Associates Inc Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Townsend & Associates Inc reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,197 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 332,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,251,000 after buying an additional 109,400 shares during the period. Invesco LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 8,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 1,355 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 14,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 150.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $130.11. 4,559,640 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,141,746. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. 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. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company 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 for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.