Davidson Trust Co. Has $659,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Davidson Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,041 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the quarter. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE MRK traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $125.28. 2,337,976 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,235,308. The business’s 50-day moving average is $126.17 and its 200-day moving average is $114.84. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. 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 market capitalization of $317.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 894.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.