TCG Advisory Services LLC Has $10.72 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

TCG Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 138.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,352 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,078 shares during the period. TCG Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.51. The stock had a trading volume of 6,221,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. 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 posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

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.