Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Cut by Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC

Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,475 shares of the company’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avaii Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 52,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,720,000 after acquiring an additional 10,304 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 26,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,872,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $372,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Societe Generale lowered 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $130.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,148,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,271,135. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.