First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $4.47 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,954 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,423 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 22,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,456,000 after buying an additional 2,898 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 99,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,799,000 after buying an additional 5,982 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 401,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,746,000 after buying an additional 2,211 shares during the last quarter. Searle & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 57,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,309,000 after buying an additional 21,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 18,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.41 on Wednesday, reaching $128.81. 5,895,742 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,272,977. The firm has a market cap of $326.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $126.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'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. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by 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.

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