Eudaimonia Advisors LLC Has $1.33 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Eudaimonia Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 996 shares during the period. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $126.88. The stock had a trading volume of 7,740,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $321.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 906.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

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.