Bogart Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bogart Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352,256 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $187,042,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $129.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,775,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,103,460. 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 fifty day moving average of $126.45 and a 200 day moving average of $117.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.91 billion, a PE ratio of 143.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’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 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.