Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Has $3.09 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,346 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. RMR Wealth Builders raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 20,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 4,047 shares during the last quarter. Suncoast Equity Management lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 163,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,843,000 after acquiring an additional 4,252 shares during the period. Sweet Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares during the period. Toews Corp ADV bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $772,000. Finally, Vicus Capital raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.0% in the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 9,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,374 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised 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 assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $129.19 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.65 EPS for the current year.

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.