Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by S.A. Mason LLC

S.A. Mason LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,605 shares of the company’s stock after selling 388 shares during the quarter. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the second quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 5,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. King Wealth grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. King Wealth now owns 7,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 7,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 5.0 %

NYSE MRK opened at $131.75 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $333.68 billion, a PE ratio of 941.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is 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 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.