Wealth Alliance Sells 267 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wealth Alliance lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P raised its position in shares of 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 period. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 1st 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 acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.78. 3,093,104 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,341,180. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $318.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 901.36, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $126.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.53.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

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.