JPL Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 14,066 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,534,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company's stock worth $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company's stock worth $3,966,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731,152 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,221.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,375,269 shares of the company's stock worth $258,952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352,256 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $187,042,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $131.10. The company had a trading volume of 4,256,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,012,333. The firm has a market cap of $332.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.23.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

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.