Rep. Jefferson Shreve Sells Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock

Representative Jefferson Shreve (R-Indiana) recently sold shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). In a filing disclosed on May 08th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $15,001 and $50,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. stock on April 17th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “CRT – STANDARD UNIT TRUST” account.

Representative Jefferson Shreve also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) on 4/17/2025.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) on 4/17/2025.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Stryker (NYSE:SYK) on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) on 4/17/2025.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $75.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $190.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.82 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.27 and a 200-day moving average of $93.22.

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. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $372,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 11,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,521 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the first quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 70,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,293,000 after buying an additional 3,292 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the first quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 25,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 11,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.13.

About Representative Shreve

Jefferson Shreve (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Indiana’s 6th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Shreve (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Indiana’s 6th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.
Jefferson Shreve earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1989, a graduate degree from the University of London in 1998, and a graduate degree from Purdue University in 2003. Shreve’s career experience includes working as a real estate executive.

Shreve was elected 7th District Vice Chairman of the Indiana Republican State Committee on January 17, 2018, and was re-elected on March 6, 2021. In 2020, he was selected as a district-level delegate to the 2020 Republican National Convention.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.