Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their price target 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. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $130.23. 9,211,177 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,196,433. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $126.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $329.85 billion, a PE ratio of 144.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction 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 $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.