First National Trust Co Sells 15,739 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First National Trust Co decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,739 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.0% of First National Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,089,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.51. 6,221,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,932,243. 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 company has a market cap of $322.99 billion, a PE ratio of 141.68, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.75. 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 posted 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. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank upped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.