Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 28,696 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 680,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,696 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $67,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after purchasing an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 22,775 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $199.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.17 and a 200-day moving average of $93.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.93 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.