Evermay Wealth Management LLC Acquires 549 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,366 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,477.6% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 10,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,053,000 after buying an additional 9,946 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 286.2% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 122,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,648,000 after purchasing an additional 91,040 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 28,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,962,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% during the third quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,922,000 after purchasing an additional 15,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 562,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,891,000 after purchasing an additional 10,627 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $129.49. 5,983,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,628,031. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.88, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a 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 stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.