Simmons Bank Has $9.79 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Simmons Bank lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,776 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,034 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group boosted 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. Societe Generale cut 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MRK traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $129.72. The company had a trading volume of 4,364,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,146,350. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.45 and a 200 day moving average of $117.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

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. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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.