South Dakota Investment Council Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 252,032 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,794 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.6% of South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $27,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Investment Group lifted 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 valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted 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 valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC lifted 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 valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $599,000. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK remained flat at $126.94 during trading hours on Tuesday. 7,743,486 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.51. The company has a market capitalization of $321.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 906.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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.