Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by First National Corp MA ADV

First National Corp MA ADV boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,537 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the quarter. First National Corp MA ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Ossiam raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 118.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 215,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,912,000 after acquiring an additional 117,002 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $133.19 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.19. The stock has a market cap of $337.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 941.07, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.21 and a 200-day 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.50.

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.