Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 2,276 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 62.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,393 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,276 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd 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. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $131.06 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $331.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 907.21, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $126.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.59.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.