Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 1,459 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,464 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,705 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,566,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,479,071,000 after purchasing an additional 228,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 12,988,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,054,000 after purchasing an additional 984,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $0.75 on Friday, reaching $127.51. The company had a trading volume of 6,221,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

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.