Everpar Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 19,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,151,000. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.0% of Everpar Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% in the third quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,418,000. Stone Point Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stone Point Wealth LLC now owns 28,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after buying an additional 1,557 shares in the last quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% in the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Truist Financial upped 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, April 26th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. 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 research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $129.48. The company had a trading volume of 6,658,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,184,872. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $126.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.33. The stock has a market cap of $327.98 billion, a PE ratio of 143.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one 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, topping the consensus estimate 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 business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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.