Van ECK Associates Corp Has $25.42 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 63.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 233,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 406,270 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $25,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.8% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 20,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after buying an additional 4,047 shares in the last quarter. Suncoast Equity Management lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the third quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 163,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,843,000 after buying an additional 4,252 shares in the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Toews Corp ADV bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $772,000. Finally, Vicus Capital lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,374 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $129.19 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a market cap 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $126.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.