Gould Asset Management LLC CA Grows Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Gould Asset Management LLC CA grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 116.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,478 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Gould Asset Management LLC CA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $3.71 on Thursday, hitting $130.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,747,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,343,713. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $331.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 933.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.