Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Increased by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,829 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $750,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

MRK stock traded down $0.71 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $125.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,288,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,329,354. The stock has a market cap of $317.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 901.36, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $126.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.53. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

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.