Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $22.98 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,744 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,532 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.8% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.5% in the third quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 37,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% in the third quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the period. NovaPoint Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the third quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRK. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their price target 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. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $131.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.96. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, 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.