First National Bank Sioux Falls Sells 500 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First National Bank Sioux Falls lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during 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 during the period. Constitution Capital LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during 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 during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $599,000. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock remained flat at $126.94 on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 7,743,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. 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 company has a market cap of $321.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 906.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

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

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.