Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,615 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,191 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.0% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated 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, Barclays boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $2.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $130.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,523,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,174,116. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $126.42 and a 200-day moving average of $117.13. The stock has a market cap of $330.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.78, a P/E/G 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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 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.