Investment House LLC Acquires 743 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Investment House LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,379 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.9% of Investment House LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 96,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,944,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 4,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. now owns 50,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,238,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 23,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $130.16. 3,300,639 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,273,639. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $126.41 and its 200-day moving average is $116.05. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 dated 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 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 company insiders.

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.