Provence Wealth Management Group Purchases 393 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Provence Wealth Management Group raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,586 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.75. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a PE ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.