Next Level Private LLC Sells 419 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Next Level Private LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 419 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.5% of Next Level Private LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% during the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after acquiring an additional 169,536 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during 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 last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $133.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $124.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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. The firm 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%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,200.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.50.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 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 insiders.

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.