Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Intrust Bank NA

Intrust Bank NA cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 31,947 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,975 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Ridge Investment Management raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 8,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,882,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares in the last quarter. Investment House LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 122,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,342,000 after buying an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 52,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,720,000 after purchasing an additional 10,304 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $130.12. The stock had a trading volume of 6,772,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,293,661. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $329.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Wednesday, March 27th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.