Private Management Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Private Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,744 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,352,256 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,705 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, 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 transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $127.00. The stock had a trading volume of 7,083,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,258,762. 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 $321.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 906.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. 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 simple moving average of $126.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.51.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

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.