Keel Point LLC Sells 228 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Keel Point LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 41,027 shares of the company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MRK opened at $85.23 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.93 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.86 and a 200-day moving average of $94.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $214.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.