Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,580 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,823 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.6% of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102,675.5% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,860,147,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,642,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858,338,022 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 68,563,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,294,504,000 after purchasing an additional 6,546,946 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,218,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,438,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,879,481 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 41,850,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,643,267,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,816 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after purchasing an additional 39,289,404 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.59% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $101.50 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.36 and a 52-week high of $119.65. The company has a market capitalization of $257.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.33, a P/E/G ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 18.26% and a net margin of 7.77%. The firm had revenue of $16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $132.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, November 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 43,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total value of $4,602,729.69. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 111,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,738,572.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 43,823 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 111,764 shares in the company, valued at $11,738,572.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 2,081 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.38, for a total transaction of $213,052.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,862,394.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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