Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,522 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $599,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

MRK stock traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.51. The company had a trading volume of 6,221,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $126.45 and a 200 day moving average of $116.75. The company has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.68, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.