Hyman Charles D Purchases 3,191 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hyman Charles D lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,076 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,191 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.2% of Hyman Charles D’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Hyman Charles D’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $129.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,658,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,184,872. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. 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 company has a market capitalization of $327.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.87, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.