Schnieders Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,691 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,394 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $3,289,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,705 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,186,842 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in 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 buying an additional 984,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,587,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,241,000 after buying an additional 178,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK remained flat at $126.94 during midday trading on Tuesday. 7,743,486 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.51. The company has a market capitalization of $321.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 906.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

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.