Invera Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Invera Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 544 shares during the period. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 shares were 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 directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded down $1.10 on Monday, hitting $130.10. The company had a trading volume of 6,829,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,318,161. The stock has a market cap of $329.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.