Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas Has $5.31 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,428 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.4% of Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,289,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,705 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,842 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 12,988,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,054,000 after purchasing an additional 984,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,587,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,241,000 after acquiring an additional 178,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $126.88. 3,931,989 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,252,185. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.39 billion, a PE ratio of 906.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.21 and a 200 day moving average of $115.35. 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. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Societe Generale downgraded 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. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

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.