Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,911 shares of the company’s stock after selling 498 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $56,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $131.30. 1,139,654 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,654,837. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.54 billion, a PE ratio of 941.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm 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 earned $1.62 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.