Wynn Capital LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wynn Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 21,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,000. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.9% of Wynn Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MRK traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $127.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,105,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,287,475. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.51. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $321.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 907.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of 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. 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. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

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 that occurred on 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.