DeDora Capital Inc. Sells 3,272 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

DeDora Capital Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,659 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,272 shares during the quarter. DeDora Capital Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average is $116.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

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.