Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Increased by Avaii Wealth Management LLC

Avaii Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,907 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $130.19. 2,651,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,263,974. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.05.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective 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, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.