Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Decreased by Financial Strategies Group Inc.

Financial Strategies Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,049 shares of the company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HealthInvest Partners AB bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $7,160,000. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 10,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,282,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,797,000 after acquiring an additional 50,423 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,604,000 after buying an additional 20,700 shares during the period. Finally, Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $125.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.69. The firm has a market cap of $316.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 893.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

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.