Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Herold Advisors Inc.

Herold Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,792 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 854 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.1% of Herold Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 240,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,241,000 after purchasing an additional 13,339 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 15,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TAP Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

MRK opened at $131.20 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $126.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.88.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Barclays increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 report on Friday. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One research 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, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Insider Activity

In other 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 approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.