Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Shufro Rose & Co. LLC

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.1% during the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the third quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,073,000 after buying an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $131.20. 7,758,230 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price target 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, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.