Private Wealth Partners LLC Buys 1,229 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Private Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 348,020 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 3.2% of Private Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $37,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $599,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.20. 7,758,230 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.