Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,308 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average is $116.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. 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 report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

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.