Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 25.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,579 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,844 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target 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 lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK remained flat at $131.10 during midday trading on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 6,830,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,997,219. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The company has a market capitalization of $332.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 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. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $127.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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