W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Sells 1,289 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,970 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted 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. 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. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The stock has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.94. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.