Ledyard National Bank Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ledyard National Bank lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 147,695 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 614 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.7% of Ledyard National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 35,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 31,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 5,352 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management now owns 8,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 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 at this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $1.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $130.10. 6,829,150 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,318,161. 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 company has a market cap of $329.55 billion, a PE ratio of 144.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.