Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc.

Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,223 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,047 shares during the quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,289,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,705 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,842 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 12,988,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,054,000 after acquiring an additional 984,463 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,587,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,241,000 after acquiring an additional 178,132 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $131.20. The stock had a trading volume of 7,758,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.88. The company has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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