EdgeRock Capital LLC Purchases 279 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

EdgeRock Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,366 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.2 %

MRK traded up $2.81 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.38. The stock had a trading volume of 6,566,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,202,011. The company has a market capitalization of $330.26 billion, a PE ratio of 144.87, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.33.

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

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by 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.