35,000 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Acquired by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 35,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,816,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NTV Asset Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the company's stock worth $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company's stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The business has a 50 day moving average of $126.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.