FFT Wealth Management LLC Buys 380 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

FFT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,782 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’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 owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $128.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,895,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,272,977. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.50. The company has a market cap of $326.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.12, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.38. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.65 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised 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 report on Thursday, January 4th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

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.