Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,318 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:MRK opened at $74.68 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.51.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.