Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by BIP Wealth LLC

BIP Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,079 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the quarter. BIP Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the third quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 9,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 51,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,360,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.6% in the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 24,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,927 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’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 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $3.81 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $130.81. The stock had a trading volume of 7,483,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,273,149. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $126.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.59. The company has a market capitalization of $331.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 907.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.