Arkadios Wealth Advisors Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,018 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.85.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.