Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Cut by First National Bank Sioux Falls

First National Bank Sioux Falls trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,952,000 after buying an additional 2,352,256 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $187,042,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,289,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment 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, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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 value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock remained flat at $126.94 during midday trading on Tuesday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,743,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $321.54 billion, a PE ratio of 906.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 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.