Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Spire Wealth Management

Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,765 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,491 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Constitution Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on 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 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $127.57. The stock had a trading volume of 6,551,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,219,841. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.94. 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 capitalization of $323.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.74, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.