Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Next Level Private LLC

Next Level Private LLC reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 419 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.5% of Next Level Private LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 169,536 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,064,000 after acquiring an additional 9,376 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’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 approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $133.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $337.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 941.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.19. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $124.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.