Vestor Capital LLC Decreases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Vestor Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 83.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,062 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,427 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $130.03. The stock had a trading volume of 5,722,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,169,303. The company has a market cap of $329.34 billion, a PE ratio of 144.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.50. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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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