Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,482 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $599,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $128.26. The company had a trading volume of 7,427,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,263,028. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $126.51 and a 200-day moving average of $116.50. The company has a market capitalization of $324.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.22, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised 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. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.