Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,796 shares during the quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $3.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $130.71. 12,747,423 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,343,713. The firm has a market cap of $331.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 928.86, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.59. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, 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. 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.