SL Advisors LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 98.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,209 shares of the company’s stock after selling 198,991 shares during the quarter. SL Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,562,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,766,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174,829 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,723,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,068,750,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,701 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 41,850,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,643,267,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,816 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after buying an additional 39,289,404 shares during the last quarter. 74.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8 %
NYSE MRK traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $121.52. The company had a trading volume of 46,477,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,645,164. The company has a market capitalization of $307.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 868.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $130.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $123.47 and its 200 day moving average is $111.63.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement
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 paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on 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 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 currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.14.
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.