Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC Has $798,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,073,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.48 on Friday, hitting $131.20. The company had a trading volume of 7,758,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a PEG ratio of 1.70 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

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.