GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1,185.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 333,743 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 307,780 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.4% of GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third 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 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

MRK opened at $127.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $126.45 and a 200-day moving average of $116.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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.