The buying and selling of stock by a company’s insider give investors a sense that the stock will rise or fall in the future. Merck & Co Inc shares valued at $714,745 were sold by Oosthuizen Johannes Jacobus on Feb 19 ’25. At $84.09 per share, Oosthuizen Johannes Jacobus sold 8,500 shares. The insider’s holdings dropped to 30,705 shares worth approximately $2.74 million following the completion of this transaction.
Also, JOHANNES JACOBUS OOSTHUIZEN purchased 8,500 shares, netting a total of over 714,745 in proceeds.
Before that, DAVID WILLIAMS had added 6,000 shares to its account. In a trade valued at $512,057, the Officer bought Merck & Co Inc shares for $85.34 each.
As published in a research note from Deutsche Bank on February 18, 2025, Merck & Co Inc [MRK] has been rated down from a Buy to a Hold and the price target has been revised to $105 from $128. Analysts at TD Cowen downgraded the stock from ‘”a Buy”‘ to ‘”a Hold”‘ outlook in a report released in early February. As of January 08, 2025, Truist has decreased its “Buy” rating to a “Hold” for MRK. Earlier on December 20, 2024, BMO Capital Markets downgraded its rating. Their new recommendation was “a Market perform” for MRK stock which previously was a “an Outperform”.
Analyzing MRK Stock Performance
During the last five days, there has been a surge of approximately 4.42%. Over the course of the year, Merck & Co Inc shares have dropped approximately -10.15%. Shares of the company reached a 52-week high of $102.97 on 01/07/25 and a 52-week low of $81.04 on 02/18/25. A 50-day SMA is recorded $95.37, while a 200-day SMA reached $111.04. Nevertheless, trading volume fell to 13.53 million shares from 18.42 million shares the previous day.
Support And Resistance Levels for Merck & Co Inc (MRK)
According to the 24-hour chart, there is a support level at 88.37, which, if violated, would cause prices to drop to 87.36. In the upper region, resistance lies at 90.88. The next price resistance is at 92.38. RSI (Relative Strength Index) is 45.16 on the 14-day chart, showing neutral technical sentiment. Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is at 3.58, which suggests the price will increase in the coming days. Percent R is at 30.59%, indicating low price movement. Stochastics %K at selling indicates that the stock is to be held.
