Insider Selling: Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) EVP Sells $4,602,729.69 in Stock

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 43,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total transaction of $4,602,729.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 111,764 shares in the company, valued at $11,738,572.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0 %

MRK stock opened at $101.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $256.92 billion, a PE ratio of 56.33, a PEG ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.76. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $96.36 and a one year high of $119.65.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.30 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 7.77% and a return on equity of 18.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 27th. UBS Group raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $117.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.14.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.1% in the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the second quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.5% in the first quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 80,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,550,000 after acquiring an additional 19,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.59% of the company’s stock.

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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.