Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 47.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 76,544 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $166,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,774,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $235,000. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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 restated an “overweight” rating and issued 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 given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

MRK stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. The company had a trading volume of 6,221,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The company has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 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.