Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 682 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.9% of Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 42,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 134,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,400 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 22,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 348,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,941,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.48 on Friday, reaching $131.20. 7,758,230 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The firm 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $126.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Barclays boosted 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.