Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 229 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,934 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,073,000 after buying an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $131.20. The company had a trading volume of 7,758,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Wednesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.